Commissioner Russell's take on the Melreese vote

For a guy whose political career began with a park, it may ironically end because of a park. I reached out to our Commissioner Ken Russell and asked him for an explanation for his vote regarding the Melreese Golf Course. I know many people are upset about his vote; he had the power at the Commission meeting and should have stood up to the Beckham group and Jorge Mas, they are bullies. Once the door was open, regarding private development, or any development in the city parks, it will be a disaster for years go come.

The District Commissioner's wishes should be respected, there was a reason Willy Gort and the neighbors who live next to the park don't want over-development in the park. One day, when Ken wants something for the Grove, we may not get the votes from the other commissioners since apparently the district commissioner's wishes don't count now. And the whole thing seemed like a show, because the outcome is so predictable in Miami. Just once we thought we had a hero, someone standing up for the wishes of the community, but it's business as usual.

This project is a huge project, it's not just a soccer stadium, the stadium is now accompanied by 96 businesses, a 500 room hotel, which is now 750 room and if Commissioner Joe Carollo has his way, 1000 rooms or more;  a conference center, a shopping mall and 400,000 square feet of office space and a minimum of 5000 parking spaces.  All this in a public park. At the entrance to the airport. 

The Beckham group is taking advantage of residents and the city commission and the mayor, making fools of all the taxpayers. It's not about soccer. It's about selling off/renting off valuable city owned green space. Voters will most likely vote in favor of the project in November because they will be fed a load of lies from now until then, telling them it will reduce taxes and bring soccer to Miami. They will be told that the park/golf course did not turn a profit, even though parks are not meant to turn a profit. It won't explained how they commandeered public park land to build a hotel, offices and a mall, because according to Commissioner Joe Carollo, the City of Miami needs a mall like Dadeland (his words), in this age of online shopping and dying malls. When one day condos, restaurants or offices start appearing in our local parks in Coconut Grove, you can remember this was the tipping point.

Here's Ken's explanation.

Hi Neighbors,

It was a tough vote this week at a special City Commission meeting regarding the Beckham group’s proposal.  From the hundreds of emails I’ve received, I know that many are happy, many are disappointed, and many just want more details. To start with, let me clarify what was approved at Commission yesterday.  We did not approve a soccer stadium. The commission voted to place an item on this November’s ballot asking voters if they want this or not. Specifically, asking if residents want the City of Miami to negotiate with the Beckham group to convert 130 acres of what is currently the Melreese Country Club near the airport into an approximately 60 acre open space Central Park, and a 70 acre development including a soccer stadium with restaurant, retail, hotel, and tech hub office complex. It’s a lot.  It’s a lot of potential development, but also the largest potential free and open park that the city has ever had. The potential development also includes a multi story driving range and 12 open public soccer fields. Theoretically, the ancillary commercial development would fund the stadium and green space allowing for no cost to Miami but rather a revenue stream and fair market rent. As the Beckham Group holds the only franchise with Major League Soccer to build a stadium in Miami, the ballot question also asks voters if the city should waive its normal procurement process to negotiate a lease directly with this group. Competitive bidding is mandatory in our charter but can and has been waived in the past through voter referendum. To complicate issues, the current golf course sits on deeply contaminated soil and is home to the very effective children’s golf charity, The First Tee. 

I am not here to defend or promote the intended project. I voted to put this forward to the voters so that they can decide what to do with their property.  I stand by my vote, but it was a very difficult decision. I would not allow this on the ballot unless I believed that it was a viable option that the public could consider. The status quo of the country club is of course a viable option as well. 

In last week’s meeting, the public and the Commission got their first in-depth look at the proposal. It was not good enough. The public outreach had been lacking, the financials of the deal were light, and the risk to green space was unclear. I had been receiving concerns from many residents and I vocalized those concerns in a specific list of demands that would need to be met and formalized in a term sheet before I could consider putting the proposal to the voters. I requested a special follow up Commission Meeting yesterday and asked for these commitments:

No Net Loss to Parks and Green Space. Although a tremendous amount of new park space and open soccer fields would be created on site, any commercial development on site would have to yield equivalent new park or green spaces throughout the city — All at the Beckham Group’s cost and responsibility.

Preservation and enhancement of the First Tee program that mentors children and builds character through golf and education. This would have to be done on site at the proposed driving range and classrooms and at neighboring 18-hole golf courses including Miami Springs Golf Course which is less than four miles away.

The City of Miami would not be responsible for any of the cost of the development, stadium, and Central Park, including no city of Miami money for any of the contamination remediation — no matter how bad it gets.

The Beckham Group would pay better than fair market value for the property. In addition to a base rent of $3.5 million per year as valued by independent appraisals, I requested the greater of that or 5% of all gross revenue earned on site by the Beckham group and affiliates, plus 1% of all capital transactions.  When they make money, the city would make money as well.

A living wage of no less than $15/hr for ALL employees on site.  They expect approximately 1400 permanent on-site jobs so this was an important one for me and has never been done in a non-subsidized stadium complex deal.  This includes groundskeepers, janitors, ticket takers, and everyone. For the employees of third party tenants that they would sub-lease to, I suggested a stepped increase over four years from $11 to $15.

By yesterday, the Beckham Group had agreed to every one of these concessions so I am comfortable with this proposal going before the voters.  There is a long way to go for this to become a reality though, so I remain skeptical on behalf of the residents who have been burned in stadium deals before. If the voters approve the concept, the city would negotiate a detailed lease that would come back to City Commission. A complete traffic study and analysis of green space impact and public outreach campaign would all need to happen before I would consider voting on that lease.

I’d like to thank everyone for their passionate advocacy for and against this project. I do not know if it will happen, but I do know that it is yours to decide. 

Your commissioner,
Ken Russell,
Coconut Grove