Bob Baer has more than 34 years of construction and management experience.
He received his bachelor’s degree in construction management from Florida international University in 1989. While getting his degree, he joined the family construction business, Central Civil Construction (formerly known as Central Florida Equipment), that was founded by his father, James, in 1977. Central Civil Construction specializes in complex construction projects including deep excavations, underground utility work, heavy highway construction, earthwork, land development, and infrastructure civil engineering. For more than 40 years it has been developing and expanding South Florida’s landscape. Today, with more than 150 employees and a management team with more than 300 years of combined hands-on experience, it is involved with some of the most technically challenging civil site projects in the area; from airports and seaports, to arenas, commercial, government and roadway projects.
Baer serves as President, Management & Development and has been the visionary behind the company’s evolution. He has gone on to forge valuable partnerships with industry leaders that has resulted in joint ventures such as one with global engineering/construction giant Odebrecht on the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport expansion. He also leads Central Civil's business development and client relations efforts which have helped position it as one of the most experienced construction companies working on significant Downtown Miami projects. Under his direction, Central Civil has been involved with projects that now hold iconic status in Miami such as the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Marlins Park, and American Airlines Arena.
More recently the company has been involved with innovative projects such as site preparation for PortMiami's Royal Caribbean Terminal A and is the prime contractor for Miami International Airport's $76 million Central Base Apron and Utilities Modification and Expansion project. Central Civil is also leading the horizontal construction work for Norwegian Cruise Line's new terminal at PortMiami and is managing partner for the first phase of The Underline, a plan to transform the land below Miami's Metrorail into a 10-mile linear park.
To date Baer has overseen more than $1 billion in construction including more than $350 million of airport work, busway phases 1 & 2, Everglades and South Florida Water Management District project and others. He has earned several Florida licenses including Underground Utility & Excavation Contractor, General Contractor, Fire Main Contractors and Marine Specialty. In addition, he earned General Building and General Engineering for Dade County; Paving Commercial for Palm Beach County, and Major Roads for Broward County.
Baer is a member of the Associated General Contractors, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Community Small Business Enterprise Advisory Board, and the Dade County licensing board. He is also a past board member of the Construction Association of South Florida and a past president and board member of the Engineering Contractors of South Florida.