Spirit Airlines slashes size of planned headquarters at Dania Pointe

UPDATED, Sept. 15, 2:55 p.m.: Miramar-based Spirit Airlines won approval to shrink the size of its planned headquarters in Dania Beach by about two-thirds.

Dania Beach city commissioners on Monday unanimously approved Spirit’s revised site plan for the downsized headquarters at the Dania Pointe mixed-use development. Commissioners also approved the airline’s site plan for a nearby corporate housing development with 200 apartments.

In December 2019, Dania Beach city commissioners approved Spirit’s original site plan for a 500,000-square-foot headquarters and training center in two nine-story buildings at Dania Pointe.

The revised site plan for Spirit’s corporate campus now includes a six-story, 180,222-square-foot headquarters, a 100,000-square-foot employee training center equipped with flight simulators, and a 998-space parking garage.

Spirit spokesperson Erik Hofmeyer said in an email exchange that the 180,222-square-foot building could be the initial construction phase of the headquarters, because the airline could expand its home office up to 500,000 square feet. “The current design allows us room to expand on the property in the future,” he said.

The residential portion of the corporate campus will be a seven-story, 200-unit apartment building with a 297-space parking garage. It will serve as corporate housing for flight crews on layover, employees in town for training, and administrative staff.

The latest approvals came about five weeks after the airline ended a 10-day series of mass flight cancellations.

The 2,826 flight cancellations from July 30 through August 9 forced Spirit to forfeit about $50 million in ticket revenue. In an August 16 statement, Spirit blamed “airport staffing shortages, leading to severe crew dislocations.”

Spirit also estimated that its third-quarter operating revenue will range from $885 million to $955 million, compared to a pandemic-depressed $402 million last year and $992 million in 2019.

In December 2019, Spirit acquired most of its corporate campus site at Dania Pointe by paying $32 million for 8.5 acres. The airline also signed a 99-year lease for 2.6 acres at Dania Pointe, a 102-acre property developed by New York-based Kimco Realty.

Construction of the new corporate campus is expected to take two years. Spirit has estimated the total cost of the project will be $250 million.

Spirit’s current headquarters now occupies leased office space at three locations in Miramar: about 56,000 square feet at 2800 Executive Way, about 26,000 square feet at 2877-2899 North Commerce Parkway, and about 15,000 square feet at 2844 Corporate Way.

The consolidated corporate campus in Dania Beach will be just south of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which has more Spirit flights than any other airport. Spirit based about a quarter of its operating capacity there during 2020.

Correction: A previous version of this story had an incorrect size for the planned employee training center portion of the development.