Inter Miami team submits upzoning plan for Miami Freedom Park — a special area plan
Developers of Miami Freedom Park have submitted a rezoning plan that would use a controversial method to secure development rights to allow them to build a $1 billion commercial and stadium complex to replace Melreese golf course.
The team on Monday applied for a “special area plan,” a zoning designation that allows developers to gain greater development capacity in exchange for public benefits on certain land holdings. In this case, a special area plan is the only method available to upzone nine or more acres of parkland.
Although the plan would not significantly change the elements that David Beckham and local partner Jorge Mas outlined almost two years ago, the use of the special area plan designation highlights just how dramatically the development would change the park and the neighborhood — and why that particular designation often draws loud opposition.
Mas wants to redevelop Melreese’s 131 acres into Miami Freedom Park, a sprawling mall, office park, hotel and soccer stadium complex that would include a 58-acre public park. The stadium would host home games for Miami’s Major League Soccer franchise, Inter Miami.
Special area plans have come under scrutiny in Miami’s residential neighborhoods, where critics have taken aim at massive projects’ size and impact on surrounding residents. Miami Freedom Park, which has no residential component, will likely stoke more fears about traffic and the impact on green space than gentrification.
Because Melreese is city-owned property, and Inter Miami would be leasing the land for 99 years, the city and team are co-applicants on the special area plan. City administrators and team officials are still negotiating the terms of the lease, which would require approval from four of five Miami commissioners to proceed — a vote that is not at all certain.
The upzoning plan does not appear to signal that a lease is coming soon. City Manager Art Noriega, who has participated in negotiations since before he was named the city’s top administrator in February, told the Miami Herald the parties have not finalized a lease proposal.
“Actually not even close,” Noriega said in a text message.
Regardless, team owners must apply for zoning to build anything on the property, a process that can take up to a year and requires approvals from city planners, state officials and ultimately, the City Commission. One of Inter Miami’s land use attorneys, Iris Escarra, told the Herald the team wanted to begin the upzoning process in hopes that final approvals would coincide with approval of a lease.
“Hopefully the items kind of line up so they can approve the lease, and shortly after that, approve the zoning,” she said.
The plan calls for the city to allow 20.9 acres of the Melreese property, currently zoned as parkland, to be upzoned for commercial development and a 25,000-seat soccer stadium. Under city law, rezoned park space needs to be replaced elsewhere in the city.
“Miami Freedom Park is working with the City of Miami to identify 20.9 acres of vacant, abandoned, and underutilized City land that the [Miami Freedom Park] team will convert into park space to serve surrounding residents,” reads a statement from team officials. “These additional neighborhood parks ensure that Miami Freedom Park replaces the Civic Space rezoned for its project with an equal amount of new Civic Space in the City.”
Miami administrators have identified a list of city-owned properties that could be converted to parkland to satisfy the requirement. According to the city, none of the lots is larger than five acres.
Mas, chairman of infrastructure giant MasTec and the local managing owner of Inter Miami, said in a statement that the special area plan application was submitted during lease negotiations to keep progress moving on parallel paths. He pointed to the November 2018 referendum in which 60 percent of voters authorized the city to negotiate a no-bid lease to develop the complex.
“With the goal of following through on the will of Miami voters, we are submitting the Miami Freedom Park zoning application so it can be reviewed as we continue to advance lease agreement negotiations,” Mas said in a statement.
Inter Miami debuted on the road in March with two losses before the team was scheduled to make its home debut in Fort Lauderdale March 14. Two days before, MLS suspended games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Play is scheduled to resume in July. Inter Miami is scheduled to resume its season with an away game at Orlando City Soccer Club July 8.
The application features a few changes to the site plan that was initially proposed. The parking lot and rideshare pickup area will double as a site for a farmers market area for food trucks. The plan also includes new crosswalks and traffic signals on Northwest 37th Avenue to provide residents in the adjacent Grapeland Heights neighborhood easier access to the park and commercial complex.
Read the full special area plan application below:
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 3:16 PM.
