Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Beckham gets his ground
Beckham’s group has path to MLS stadium
Sale of land for pro soccer stadium in Miami approved.
MIAMI — David Beckham finally has his land — and Miami may be nearing a Major League Soccer franchise at last.
On Tuesday morning, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved the sale of 3 acres of public land to Beckham’s group, the final piece of land necessary to build a soccer stadium in the Miami neighborhood of Overtown. Beckham’s group, known as Miami Beckham United, will pay more than $9 million for the land.
The sale passed with a 9-4 vote after nearly three hours of discussion. It was backed by primary sponsor Audrey Edmonson, who represents District 3, where the stadium site is located.
The land deal marks the closest MBU has gotten to bringing a MLS team to Miami. The group now owns 9 acres in Overtown, having purchased 6 acres for $19 million last March. MBU would have 70 days from Tuesday to receive league approval of its expansion bid. It must also work with the city of Miami on necessary zoning changes to build the 25,000-seat venue.
“Miami needs to get in the game the right way and under the right terms,” MBU partner Tim Leiweke said. “We’ve done that today, and we’ll continue to do that. We have several other steps that we now need to go through.”
Leiweke said he hopes to receive MLS approval in the next few weeks. He said the group’s ownership structure is currently under league review and that MBU will publicly unveil its full ownership group af-
ter receiving MLS approval for a team.
“The approval of Major League Soccer is by no means a given,” Leiweke said. “We believe that’s coming. We believe Major League Soccer needs Miami just as much as Miami wants Major League Soccer.”
Leiweke previously said the stadium would be ready in 2021, but moved up the timeline a year on Tuesday. He hopes to have the stadium ready for the 2020 season. He also said MLS officials are expected to look at the site on Wednesday.
“With the progress we’ve made today, and let me tell you this was a major step, we are closer today than ever to an MLS franchise in Miami,” Leiweke said. “We’re excited. We’re dedicated, so let’s shoot for 2020.”
Tuesday marked a significant milestone in Beckham’s quest for a soccer stadium.
Beckham formally announced his desire for a MLS team in Miami on Feb. 5, 2014. In the 1,217 days since that announcement, MBU failed at three different stadium sites. Waterfront property at PortMiami attracted Beckham first. But corporate neighbors and county officials thwarted a stadium on the island.
The group next looked at a boat slip adjacent to the American-Airlines Arena. But city officials nixed that idea. MBU explored a site next to Marlins Park, but couldn’t close on private land in Little Havana.
So Overtown became the fourth, and likely final, chance for Miami to have top-tier American soccer. The stadium site sits west of downtown Miami and north of the Miami River, in an urban environment required by the league.
Across four town hall meetings in the past four weeks, Overtown and nearby Spring Garden residents questioned whether the added noise and traffic would turn the stadium into a liability. Some wondered whether the lack of stadium parking would cause chaos in their community.
“The residents of Overtown and Spring Garden aren’t eating Beckham’s bologna,” Spring Garden resident Carson Moore said. “You could eat for a month with all of that.”
But MBU said the stadium would help revitalize the Overtown community and pointed to 12,380 parking spaces within a 16-minute walk to the stadium. It’s asking fans to uses ride-sharing applications, public transportation and water taxis to get to games.
MBU is locked into community benefits since the county is bypassing a bid process in selling the land directly to the group. Beckham’s group must create 50 permanent jobs, with 26 of them paying a living wage of about $27,000. It must craft a job training program, including upper-management training. It must partner with the Overtown Youth Coalition for training sessions, tickets and player interactions.
MBU is obligated to spend at least $175 million on the stadium. Leiweke previously placed a $225 million tag on the stadium.
Miami would be the league’s 24th team. MLS added Atlanta and Minnesota this season and another Los Angeles team will join next season. The league is expanding to 28 teams, and 12 cities.
A previous South Florida MLS team, the Miami Fusion, was contracted in 2001 due to poor attendance. The Fusion was conceived for the Orange Bowl but ended up playing at Fort Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium from 1998-2001.