Remember Beckham's New Soccer Stadium at Orange Bowl Site? It Is Not Happening

Instead, Becks will try to build a stadium in Overtown, a largely African American neighborhood close to downtown. I applaud Becks for his determination to secure this stadium deal and maneuvering through the labyrinth of Miami politics to reach this point. Personally, I think this is a much better location being away from the shadow of Marlins Park.

Miami Herald

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The announcement marked the first time in two years that Beckham and his investors said they actually have real estate under contract as one of the world’s most famous athletes tries to bring a privately financed stadium to Miami. The latest deal calls for Beckham’s group to own all the real estate, dropping its effort to elude property taxes by having a government serve as the stadium’s landlord.

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In exchange for ownership, the school system wanted free use of the stadium for graduations, football games, band competitions and other large events, along with educational facilities for visiting classes.

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Raquel Regalado, the mayor’s daughter and a school-board member, is challenging Gimenez in the 2016 mayoral election. Gimenez accused the Regalados of playing politics with the soccer deal

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Raquel Regalado said it wasn’t politics that handicapped the Little Havana site but the Beckham group’s initial insistence on a waterfront site downtown.

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The new site spans two blocks just west of Interstate 95 and three blocks north of the Miami River, where Northwest Eighth Street meets Northwest Sixth Avenue. The primary private parcel is a 4.2-acre parking lot, while the county property consists of a truck depot and vacant land managed by the Water and Sewer Department.

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Beckham would bring a 30,000-seat soccer stadium to one of Miami’s poorest neighborhoods, in an area currently lacking parking garages, restaurants and retail. Beckham would acquire the county land under the state’s economic-development laws, which allow governments to circumvent bidding procedures when a buyer agrees to certain hiring and spending targets. In a letter to Gimenez this week, Beckham’s group pledged to spend at least $150 million building the stadium and described the project as a boon to the stadium area as well as surrounding neighborhoods.

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“We believe this proposed location for a soccer stadium will have significant positive impacts on Overtown, Little Havana, and the burgeoning Miami River restaurant district along North River Drive,” Neisen Kasdin, a Miami lobbyist and lawyer representing Beckham, wrote in a Dec. 3 letter to Gimenez laying out the deal.

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the mayor signed a framework proposed by Kasdin that calls for a sales price based on two appraisals and closing the sale by Feb. 29.

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A public housing complex sits north of the site, and a bridge over the Miami River connects it to the affluent Spring Garden neighborhood. Beckham’s group also plans to seek approval from the city of Miami to close Northwest Seventh Street, which runs east and west between the two blocks where the stadium would be built.

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“I think they finally figured out that you don't lead with the press conference,” said Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez. “You get a deal done, and then you announce it to the public.

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While there will be some parking underneath the stadium, Gimenez said the team plans to rely on a tradition of soccer fans walking to games.

“They have this thing called a “march to the match,’” Gimenez said, pointing to the Culmer Metrorail station. “There’s public transit that people can [use] and then walk to the stadium.”

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Beckham’s group faced a political thicket in Little Havana, with Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado requiring voter approval before backing the sale of city land to the team. A referendum was tentatively planned to coincide with the March presidential primary.

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“I believe this is a much better deal for the taxpayer,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said during a news conference announcing his talks to sell the Beckham group a three-acre county service yard as part of the stadium site.

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On Friday, Tomás Regalado embraced the Overtown site. “To me, all that matters is that the location is in the city of Miami,” he said.

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