Miami-Dade School Board puts downtown land up for sale —again
The Miami-Dade School Board hopes to unload a piece of land near the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami and get cash or a new office building in exchange.
The board has begun accepting proposals for the downtown real estate, which currently serves as a parking lot, and is asking for “fair market value” or up to 180,000 square feet of offices, according to the request for proposals. The parking lot is located on Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast 14th Street, across the street from the performing arts center.
Either way, the board hopes to get new offices out of the deal. Cash from the sale would be used to help pay for a new school board office building.
This is not the first time the board has tried to sell its downtown real estate. The board has attempted to unload its properties on three previous occasions: twice in 2011 and once in 2014, but gave up after receiving little interest from developers.
This time around, Miami Beach developer Russell Galbut told The Real Deal that he wants to make a proposal and plans to combine the school board property with a parking lot he owns next door, creating a site stretching over two acres. Galbut would build residential towers with space for parking and stores on the ground floor, he told the real estate web site and publication.
Earlier this year, the school district and county hall drafted a “memorandum of understanding” to provide parking for the publicly-owned Adrienne Arsht Center in exchange for land in the urban core that could be used to build a new school.
To keep its end of the non-binding agreement, the school district would need to successfully sell or lease the parking lot for which it is currently accepting bids.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho confirmed that the board is accepting proposals, but Carvalho and School Board members contacted by the Herald said they were unable to comment on the bid for proposals, citing the “cone of silence” that prevents them from discussing the issue until the superintendent formally presents it to the board. Proposals will be made public after the Feb. 2 deadline for submitting a proposal.
This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 12:45 PM with the headline "Miami-Dade School Board puts downtown land up for sale —again."