Soccer stadium developers can keep $20M on site. Miami parks to get $10M in city funds
The Miami City Commission voted Thursday to ensure that a $20 million contribution from the developers of Miami Freedom Park will be spent exclusively on a 58-acre public park attached to the future Inter Miami soccer stadium site rather than a portion of those funds going to other parks across the city.
The proposal, spearheaded by Mayor Francis Suarez and co-sponsored by Commissioner Miguel Gabela, angered some residents, including one who called it a “bait-and-switch.”
That’s because when the City Commission voted to approve the deal in 2022, commissioners agreed to a condition to satisfy the holdout vote, then-Commissioner Ken Russell. That condition, which Russell deemed “crucial” to his support, was that half of the $20 million contribution be spent on other city parks and the remaining $10 million go toward the 58-acre park planned for the Miami Freedom Park site.
But Suarez’s proposal Thursday ensures all of the $20 million will be spent at the 58-acre park. He contended that the money should have never been diverted elsewhere in the first place and that his item was honoring the will of voters who supported the soccer stadium project in a 2018 ballot referendum. Four years later, the city awarded a 99-year lease to retired soccer player David Beckham and business partners Jorge and José Mas.
Suarez offered a sweetener Thursday, adding an amendment to the legislation to allocate $2.5 million for parks in four of the city’s five voting districts, excluding the district where the stadium is located. The city did not say what the funding source for the new $10 million would be, but it will likely come from taxpayer dollars.
The commission voted 4-1 for the mayor’s proposal. Commissioner Damian Pardo was the dissenting vote, although he acknowledged that he would still accept the $2.5 million for his district.
“It’s such a shame that public funds will now be filling the hole left by the clawback of the Mas obligation,” Russell said after Thursday’s vote. “The vote that happened [in 2022] was real. You cannot erase it.”
The 2018 ballot question, approved by a 60% vote, included the contingency that the developers must make a $20 million contribution to be spent on the 58-acre public park, “or other green space.” In an interview this week, Suarez said the $20 million should have been kept for the 58-acre public park at the stadium site.
“It was always originally intended to be that way,” Suarez said.
The Miami Freedom Park developers had agreed to pay a total of $25 million in public benefits to the city as part of the overall stadium deal, including $20 million for parks and $5 million for the Baywalk-Riverwalk project.
The developers paid the first half last year. Then in January, the city put the developers “on notice” for the remaining $12.5 million, saying the payment was due on Jan. 10 when the city issued a “vertical” permit, which allowed the developers to begin building upward.
The city seemingly walked that back this week. Officials now contend that the payment isn’t due until the city issues the master permit for the site, which is “under review,” according to city spokeswoman Kenia Fallat. The city did not offer an explanation as to why its position changed.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 7:07 PM.
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