Messi Mania: Construction Begins on Miami Freedom Park and Inter Miami CF Stadium

Inter Miami CF has begun construction began on Miami Freedom Park and The Inter Miami CF stadium, following the closing of one of Miami’s last remaining pubic golf courses, Melreese Country Club: Miami International Links. Construction is now underway on Miami Freedom Park, a 131-acre privately funded entertainment district development anchored by a new 25,000-seat fútbol specific stadium and 58-acre public park. Miami Freedom Park scheduled to open in 2025 and the official groundbreaking ceremony will take place later this year.

Crews and heavy equipment are now on site, performing earthwork and sitework that will move across the 131 acres concurrent with vertical construction. This multi-phase effort will see the stadium, public park, entertainment, hospitality, retail, and new infrastructure that make up Miami Freedom Park’s first phase all progress rapidly.

Miami Freedom Park will feature a full range of entertainment and commercial offerings including office space, hotel, shops, restaurants, the stadium and additional experiences and attractions. Recreational components of the project include a new 58-acre public park featuring soccer and youth athletic fields for the community.

"With Inter Miami my family set out to build something truly transformational. In just four years we have changed the perception worldwide of American soccer. As we commence construction of Miami Freedom Park that same vision guides us,” said Jorge Mas, Inter Miami CF Managing Owner. “In creating a multi-faceted space we will set a new standard of what sport complexes can be. We look forward to delivering a food and entertainment destination for families to enjoy year-round. I can’t wait to welcome our fans to our state-of-the-art stadium and hear the chants as Messi and your Inter Miami players take the pitch for the first time in 2025.”

Leasing and commercial partnership efforts are underway to attract best-in-class partners, tenants, and retailers, including established and emerging brands and companies that will enhance this iconic new destination for Miami.

Earlier this year, Inter Miami CF ownership brought on experienced megaproject and sports-anchored real estate investment and development veteran Devon McCorkle to lead the effort as President of Miami Freedom Park. Devon has further curated a team of best-in-class design, engineering, project management and construction firms to bring Miami Freedom Park to this milestone and move the project into the execution phase following completion of the planning and approvals phase.

“The level of attention and the influx of inquiries we are receiving have been incredible, a testament to the positive impact of Lionel Messi on Inter Miami CF and the City of Miami,” said Devon McCorkle, President of Miami Freedom Park. “Everyone wants to be part of what we’re creating, a new entertainment district that will be the centerpiece of family activities and experiences in Miami. We are in discussions with stadium sponsors, hotel brands, major attractions operators, restaurant groups, cultural institutions and many other exciting potential partners. We will deliver an incredible home for them at Miami Freedom Park.”

Miami Freedom Park’s design team team includes Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica, global arena and stadia design firm Manica, and industry-leading large-scale stadium project managers CAA Icon. Following delivery of the stadium and initial retail and entertainment offerings in 2025, Miami Freedom Park will deliver additional retail, hotel and commercial phases through 2030.

Miami hit Messi mania following the international soccer superstar and World Cup champion’s announcement he would join the American Major League Soccer team Inter Miami FC in a blockbuster mega-deal announced on July 15. Inter Miami CF, owned by David Beckham, Jorge Mas and Jose Mas, became one of the most-Googled soccer teams in the world surrounding Lionel Messi’s debut with the team this summer, garnering over 8.4 million searches in two months and searches for both Inter Miami CF jerseys and tickets up over 1,000%. Ticket prices jumped from below $50 on average to nearly $500 for the cheapest ticket to see Messi play live, similar ticket price spikes occurred for his first game with Inter Miami CF in Orlando as well as in New York. Following Messi’s announcement he would be joining Inter Miami CF the team’s Instagram account would jump from 175,000 followers to over 4.4 million.

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. 

Beckham Turns His Sights To Redevelop Melreese Golf Course Into Office Space Masking Proposal As "Public Park"

Be careful what you wish for. Activists who brought lawsuits against David Beckham's Overtown Soccer Stadium proposal may have derailed that initiative which would have energized the Overtown community. The developers of a proposal led by David Beckham known as Miami Freedom Park now seek to remove one of Miami's last affordable public golf courses, Melreese Country Club, home of "The First Tee Miami,"one of the most respected youth golf organizations in South Florida serving individuals of all ages, capabilities, and backgrounds; in exchange for developing over 1 billion SF on the site if the proposal passes. The 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. A 400,000 SF office park would be one of the largest office parks in the United States of America. 

Mayor Francis Suarez has received both praise and backlash on Twitter after his tweet:

"Wow. A beautiful vision! 110 acres of true green public space open and accessible for our neighbors! This will be a vibrant park, entertainment complex, and soccer facility for ALL Miamians. #FutbolMiami" - @FrancisSuarez

Many of the proponents of the proposal are backing the soccer aspect of the proposal, but do not mention that the 110 acres of true green public space. Other bring to attention that the proposal is an office park, not a public park as Mayor Suarez had stated. Additionally the sit is a former waste dump and is only maintained to keep golfers safe but not for real estate development. The costs to clean the land would be astronomical to the city. What would happen should the proposal go through would be the city would lose its biggest public park (Melreese Golf Course), traffic would build up around the airport and the city would get hit with massive bills in which they would issue debt to cover as the $20 million contribution from the development is paid over 30 years and has a net present value near $4 million. The partnership of developers is in a rush to try to get the public to vote by pushing the potential of bringing pro soccer to Miami without even having a full developed plan to move forward with the proposal and would remove any leverage the city would have. ‏The project is expected to cost over $1 billion.