David Beckham's Group Submits Miami Freedom Park Lease Draft To City Of Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Soccer star David Beckham and his business partner Jorge Mas have advanced their plan to build a soccer stadium and public park on land which is currently the site of the Melreese Country Club and Golf Course.
On Wednesday, Miami Freedom Park and Soccer Village submitted a draft lease agreement to the City of Miami, advancing plans for Inter Miami CF's new stadium and 58-acre public park.
The submission advances the mandate of Miami voters who approved a November 2018 referendum item by a 60% margin allowing the city to lease its land for the project.
"We look forward to working with the City of Miami to finalize the voter-approved, fair-market-value lease agreement that provides residents with an expansive public park, 11,000 construction jobs, 2,300 permanent jobs and more than $40 million in tax revenue, while using zero City taxpayer dollars," said Jorge Mas, managing owner of Inter Miami CF. "We invite residents to visit our website to learn more and share their input."
Check out Miami Freedom Park's website
Beckham's group wants a 99-year lease with annual rent payments of no less than $3.5 million (based on a third-party fair-market-value appraisal). They will also pay the full cost of remediation of the property and have promised to provide living wage salaries for employees.
In conjunction with the lease agreement, Miami Freedom Park has also delivered to the City of Miami a Community Benefits Agreement, honoring its vow to gift $5 million for the City's Riverwalk/Baywalk project, $20 million for park maintenance and free access to the soccer fields at Miami Freedom Park for City of Miami youth.
Inter Miami CF and Miami Freedom Park have also honored their commitment to finalize an agreement with the First Tee program, ensuring the organization will continue to serve children at a new location.
Miami Freedom Park & Soccer Village, which will be built using private funds and not city tax dollars, will not only be one of Miami's largest public parks, it will also have a soccer stadium, soccer fields for the community, a tech hub, hotel, shops and restaurants.
Inter Miami CF is also building a new 18,000 seat Lockhart Stadium with private funds. Inter Miami CF will play there for two seasons until their Miami stadium is ready.
The team promised a permanent training facility at Lockhart stadium, corporate offices, another pro team at the stadium and lots of fields for public use.