The Mess At Melreese Golf Club Gets Worse As Miami Freedom Park Gets Delayed Again

There is just no telling where the supposed deal to bring a professional soccer stadium to Miami will end up after Miami city commissioners voted on Tuesday to continue negotiations with the group, led by Jorge Mas of MasTec, in regards to the projected $1 billion mixed-use office and retail project. Although Miami has a state-of-the-art stadium in Hard Rock Stadium, Inter Miami CF has decided that they need a dedicated soccer stadium to accommodate what are expected to be masses of fans, albeit one that is decidedly much smaller than the capacity Hard Rock Stadium could accommodate. It was proposed to voters that they could “vote to bring a soccer stadium to Miami along with a public park” where the public Melreese Golf Course currently operates, which passed in 2018.

Since then plans have changed significantly. The public park portion has been significantly scaled back to being a nearly non-existent part of the planned development. In fact, the 25,000 seat soccer stadium would potentially not even sit on the same lot if built. What is planned, should negotiations work out, is a massive private office park matched with a retail mall and a hotel. Those negotiations though are getting pushback from commissioner Manolo Reyes as well as local opponents such as Bruce Matheson, who claims the redevelopment of the golf course should have gone through a public competitive bidding process and that the city has continuously misled voters through the process. Numerous other opponents argue that there is no reason to get rid of one of the city’s last remaining public golf courses, all of which are heavily used, irreplaceable and support the local youth with programs such as The First Tee, especially with a state-of-the-art Hard Rock Stadium already built.

Reyes worked to force a vote on the proposed agreement before Commissioner Will Gort steps down at the end of the month as he maxes out his term limits but was shot down by majority vote from the commission which claims that the deal is nearly closed and is just pending 3 fair market value appraisals as well as traffic and environmental studies. Already environmental studies have shown the the ground underneath the golf course is full of toxic material and remediation would be in the range of $40 million.

Beckham first moved to have a stadium built at PortMiami in 2014 before the proposal bounced around 4 other sites including county-owned parking lot in Overtown. Inter Miami CF will play at their new Fort Lauderdale Stadium and Training Complex, which is currently under construction. If Miami Freedom Park is ultimately approved the timeframe for development would extend into 2022-2023.

Voters Approve David Beckham's $1 Billion Freedom Park By Waiving Competitive Bidding On Election Day

Miami-Dade voters have approved a referendum waiving competitive bidding for the right to redevelop Melreese Country Club into a $1 billion mega-project complete with office, retail and commercial space and a soccer stadium.

The referendum allows the negotiation and execution of a 99-year lease with Miami Freedom Park, LLC. for 73 acres of the Melreese Country Club site at 1400 Northwest 37th Avenue. Miami Freedom Park, LLC. is comprised of David Beckham, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, and brothers Jorge and Jose Mas. As per the agreement, the group will pay an annual rent of at least $3.6 million, or fair market value as determined by two independent appraisals, plus $20 million to fund construction of a 58-acre public park, paid in annual installments of $666,667 for 30 years.

The Arquitectonica-designed proposal includes 400K SF of office space and 600K SF of restaurant, retail and entertainment space; along with 750 hotel rooms and a 25,000 seat soccer stadium with only 3,750 parking spaces. The city will be on the hook to redevelop and maintain the remaining land at the site at the expense of tax payers.

Check Out The New Renderings of David Beckham's Proposed Freedom Park

New renderings of David Beckham and Jorge Mas' controversial proposal to build one of the biggest private office and retail parks in the U.S. on city owned land, known as Freedom Park, have been revealed. The Arquitectonica-designed proposal includes 400K SF of office space and 600K SF of  restaurant, retail and entertainment space; along with 750 hotel rooms and a 25,000 seat soccer stadium with only 3,750 parking spaces. The city would be on the hook to redevelop and maintain the remaining land at the site at the expense of tax payers. The developers would pay $20 million to the city over 30 years, amounting to a net present value of roughly $4 million. Last week commissioners decided to delay the vote on city referendum that could send the proposal to the voting ballot for taxpayers to decide its fate. 2 of the 5 commissioners are in favor but the public backlash has been vocal with charities such as The First Tee Miami staging protests and Related Group's Jorge Perez, amongst others have made their opposition public. Commissioners will vote again this week. 

David Beckham's Plans for MLS Stadium Not Going Smoothly

MLS has wanted a stadium in the heart of Miami since the 90s to build its Latin and youth fan base. There have been several incarnations of professional soccer teams in South Florida, but none managed to navigate the political waters of Miami successfully. 

Marcelo Claure, CEO of Sprint and Beckham’s partner said, “We have to put the team where it is accessible to them. So many Latin Americans and Europeans live here, it doesn’t seem right that we don’t have a soccer team.”

Beckham partnered with Claure, Jorge and Jose Mas, and Simon Fuller (creator of American Idol) to launch the franchise in January. They face a number of challenges before they can open the stadium, whose opening is scheduled for 2021. 

Now, David Beckham is facing opposition not from the city, but from activist and landowner Bruce Matheson. Court records indicate that Matheson sued the county to block the proposed stadium in Overtown, and is now appealing a judge’s ruling that threw out his lawsuit in October. He alleges that Miami-Dade County gave Beckham “a secret discount from the taxpayers” in their no-bid, $9 million deal for three acres of county-owned land. 

Beckham’s deal, which was based on appraisals from late 2015, but was approved in 2017, comes out to about $74 a square foot. In 2016, land was selling for $142 per square foot. Commissioners approved the deal, on the condition that Beckham and his partners spend $175 million on the stadium’s construction. Beckham and his partners have yet to close the deal and to secure land-use changes and new zoning.

The residents of Overtown are uneasy in light of community activists posting fake eviction notices in the neighborhood. The notice was actually an ad for a community meeting to discuss the future of public housing around the stadium. Public Housing Director Michael Liu said, “There are no plans to evict. We want to have the best possible housing for people in public housing.” Residents are skeptical, though. The future of Beckham’s MLS Miami stadium is uncertain. 

Article by Katya Demina