Miami will weigh proposals that could transform Virginia Key’s marinas and basin
Update: Commissioner Ken Russell has requested both of these Virginia Key proposals be deferred to a later date when the full commission is present. Another commissioner will not attend the May 27 meeting due to a family emergency.
Miami commissioners this week will consider the future of valuable waterfront city-owned real estate on Virginia Key — an exercise that typically yields few results and much controversy.
Two upcoming proposals sponsored by Commissioner Ken Russell, whose district includes most of Virginia Key, seem likely to spark the latter: a plan to create a 50-vessel mooring field in the Marine Stadium basin and a proposal for a no-bid, 75-year lease that would allow the current Rickenbacker Marina operator to redevelop 27 acres from the Rickenbacker Causeway to the Marine Stadium marinas.
If passed, both ideas could open the path for the city to dramatically change the atmosphere around Virginia Key, a battleground that often pits profit-seekers at City Hall and in the real estate industry against activists who want to preserve the island’s environment and tranquil waters.
The resolutions were originally scheduled to be heard at the May 27 commission meeting. After one commissioner informed the city he would not attend due to a family emergency, Russell requested the items be deferred so the full commission could debate.
Marina redevelopment
The lease proposal is the latest in a long line of ideas to maximize profits from city-owned marinas, many of which have fizzled amid contentious public bids and lawsuits.
Russell wants the city attorney to prepare a ballot question for the Nov. 2 election and present the language to the city commission later this summer. If commissioners agreed to hold the referendum, voters would decide if they want to authorize administrators to negotiate a no-bid lease with the Rickenbacker Marina’s current manager to develop a mixed-use waterfront marina campus with boatyards, dock master’s offices, stores, dry rack boat storage, wet slip docks and restaurants.
Russell’s resolution lays out initial terms for the lease, which would have to be approved by four of Miami’s five commissioners. For annual base rent, Aabad Melwani, the marina’s current operator, would pay the greater of fair market value determined by two state-certified appraisers or $2.5 million. Additionally, the city would receive 6% of wet slip and dry storage income, 6% of fuel sales, and 4% of sublease income.
Melwani was twice on teams that in recent years bid to develop a vast marina complex in solicitations that fell apart amid political fights and litigation. Another development team, a partnership between RCI Group and Suntex Marinas, scored higher on the most recent bid, but the commission ultimately threw out the bids for a second time.
Russell is proposing the city skip another round of bidding and let Melwani pursue a massive redevelopment of the marinas. The commissioner said another bidding war would be unnecessarily costly and time-consuming.
“The existing marina in the historic Marine Stadium Basin is a crucial part of the area’s future, but the city administration has failed to produce a successful bidder in the last six years with multiple requests for proposals,” Russell told the Miami Herald. “That process has been tested and exhausted. I’m willing to ask the voters if we should extend the lease of the existing tenant keeping environmental concerns, reasonable use of the basin, and financial return to the city as priorities.”
Melwani declined to comment for this story. The RCI Group team that competed against Melwani in the most recent bid could not be reached for comment.
One community group has voiced opposition. The Downtown Neighbors Alliance, which represents residents in condominiums along downtown Miami’s waterfront, is calling on Russell to withdraw the resolution.
“Instructing the city attorney to draft this charter amendment would significantly weaken the protections granted by the charter to taxpayers and their common property,” reads a statement from the alliance’s executive board. “It is unwise to weaken these protections in order to allow one lease a safe passage, as future damage of eliminating this critical protection far outweighs its short-term benefits.”
Rowing lanes and mooring field
A separate resolution would instruct City Manager Art Noriega to develop a 50-vessel mooring field, establish a dedicated rowing lane and motorized vessel exclusion zone and finalize plans for a no-wake zone in the Miami Marine Stadium basin.
The atmosphere in the basin has long been the subject of debate. Rowers recently decried a separate city plan to build a boat ramp next to Miami Marine Stadium. They argued that allowing more water bikes and motorboats will worsen a hazardous situation in the basin where rowers already have to navigate party boats.
The basin, a man-made lagoon, is the headquarters for the Miami Rowing Club, and kayakers and paddleboarders often go out on the water. The tension with people operating motorized boats and water bikes has risen. Russell believes his proposal will strike a balance in the basin.
“The Virginia Key basin has a place for everyone as long as we prioritize safety and the environment,” Russell wrote in a Facebook post discussing the proposal.
Members of the Virginia Key Advisory Board and the Virginia Key Alliance, advocates for the island, criticized the city staffers’ recent recommendation to make a 97-boat mooring field. The commissioner’s proposal cuts the number in half in hopes of allowing more room for rowers to safely enjoy the water.
The measure calls for finalizing a no-wake zone, which was approved in 2014 but never implemented, and creating a dedicated lane to be used by rowers.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 6:14 PM.
