Miami voters approve lease of riverfront land for condo towers and new government HQ

Miami voters approved a plan to lease city-owned waterfront land to a private developer to build a multi-tower residential complex in exchange for a new municipal government headquarters.

With the early voting, absentee ballots and 75 percent of precincts reporting results Tuesday night, about 64 percent of voters approved the measure. The referendum needed a simple majority to pass.

City officials maintain the Miami Riverside Center, the main administration building at 444 SW Second Ave. that was built in 1992, is too small for the city’s growing bureaucracy. The city held a competitive bid for offers in 2016 and spent 18 months negotiating a 99-year lease with the winning bidder, developer Adler Group.

Through an affiliate company, Adler agreed to build the city a new headquarters and pay $3.6 million in annual rent, a figure that would increase starting in the sixth year. Adler intends to eventually purchase the land from the city for a minimum of $69.4 million.

Under the proposed lease, Adler would also build a section of the Riverwalk, and the city would get 2 percent of proceeds of any condo sales in the building. During a public hearing in July, Adler also agreed to pay on-site employees a living wage and to set aside 10 percent of the residential rental units for workforce housing.

This story was originally published November 6, 2018 at 8:42 PM.