Miami Soccer Stadium Project Kicked To December Or Later

MIAMI, FL — Miami city commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to reject a proposed draft 99-year lease agreement for the planned $1 billion Miami Freedom Park soccer complex but vowed to continue negotiations on what is ultimately intended to become the home of businessman Jorge Mas and soccer legend David Beckham's new Major League Soccer franchise — Miami Inter CF.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez acknowledged prior to the vote the draft agreement was "hastily" prepared and did not yet reflect input from his office or the city administration.

"If I were sitting in your shoes I couldn't possibly approve this," the mayor conceded. "This was hastily prepared, obviously has significant blanks, is procedurally improper in the way that it was brought to this commission because it doesn't follow our ordinances, doesn't follow our charter."

Rather than bring the agreement to a vote, the mayor instead urged commissioners to simply withdrawal it from consideration until it was ready. But commissioners wanted to move ahead.

"This means nothing in terms of our negotiations with the team," the mayor insisted. "We will continue to negotiate with the team until which point we have a finalized contract, until which point we have all of the finalized studies and then we can bring it responsibly back to this commission."

The city ordered three separate appraisals of the property based on different scenarios to determine a fair market rent for the complex. Those results were not available as of Tuesday's special commission meeting, which was one reason the draft was rejected.

Mas reiterated his plan to pay for any necessary environmental cleanup on the site. He estimated the cleanup will cost less than $40 million. The property is located near Miami International Airport.

Miami attorney David Winker, who has filed an ethics complaint and two lawsuits over the project, told Patch he viewed Tuesday's unanimous vote and some of the statements made by commissioners as ominous.

"I think what we are seeing is the death throes of this deal," he told Patch. "There was a fundamental miscalculation by the soccer group and the city administration to push this deal through using political muscle, rather than through an open, transparent and inclusive process that development of the last large green space in Miami requires."

Mas said he and Beckham remain "steadfastly committed" to the promises they made to the city 14 months ago.

"I will commit today publicly as I did earlier that the city and the taxpayers and residents of the city of Miami will bear no expense — zero expense — in the remediation of that property. In addition to that, we’re going to be asking for zero taxpayer dollars from the residents of the city of Miami."

Tuesday's vote came one year after Miami voters overwhelmingly gave the green light to city officials to negotiate a 99-year lease with Beckham and Mas for a soccer stadium and entertainment complex on the site of the city-owned Melreese County Club.

The voter referendum covered approximately 73 acres of city land and also authorized city officials to waive bidding requirements for the project while specifying that the project must come at no cost to the city.

Mas reiterated his promise to pay the city a fair market value for the property. But he hinted his patience was not without limits.

“We are in a hurry. I would like to see — obviously if we get approval and the go ahead from the city of Miami commission — to have this project and the stadium completed by 2022," he said. “I think that is an important date for a multitude of reasons and I’d like to see the city of Miami be the home for Inter Miami."

In a recent interview with Patch, Mas said Inter Miami CF was on target to play its first games at Lockhart Stadium in nearby Fort Lauderdale starting in March of 2020. He expected the team to move to the Miami stadium after its second season.

The draft agreement submitted to the city called for a minimum rent to the city of $3,577,365 per year and assurances that on-site employees would be paid a minimum "living wage" of $15 per hour.

Commissioners agreed to revisit the proposed lease in December if it is finalized by then, or to provide an update on the negotiations between the city and the Beckham group.

In casting his vote against the measure Tuesday, Commission Chair Ken Russell said he wants assurances that the city will have no less green space than it has now.

"The current lease before us does not give us guarantees of green space replacement at this point so I'm clearly a no," explained Russell, who was re-elected last week and sworn in at Tuesday's special meeting.

Environmental tests conducted on behalf of the Beckham group showed the presence of high levels of arsenic and debris in certain areas that were tested, most likely left over from when the site served as a dump for incinerator ash during the 1950s, according to city officials.

See also

• Site Of Miami's Future Soccer Stadium Abruptly Shut Down
• Beckham Group Proposes $3.5 Million In Rent To Miami, New Park
• Miami Election Bends David Beckham's Way

Suarez and Mas both told Patch in recent weeks they anticipate Miami Freedom Park to be ready for the 2022 season, but it was not clear whether Tuesday's decision would change the construction timetable.

In a separate interview with Patch, Suarez called the soccer stadium project the "best sports deal in the history of sports deals" and said the city was not providing any subsidies to the Beckham group.

"It means a tremendous amount to the city as evidenced by the city's overwhelming support of the deal in November," the mayor told Patch, referring to the referendum passed by voters in support of leasing the country club to the Beckham group.

The proposed terms of the lease also called for the Beckham group to create a 58-acre public park with 11 soccer fields on the property.