Beckham Looking To Partner With School Board In Soccer Stadium Deal
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After years of waiting and hoping, South Florida soccer fans may finally get their Major League Soccer franchise.
The big step forward comes in the form of a complicated deal that would allow a professional soccer stadium to be built on land next to Marlins Park in Little Havana.
David Beckham's investment group met with city officials, county officials and School Board officials and proposed a plan that would give the group Miami Beckham United, or a wholly owned subsidiary, permission to build a 30,000 seat stadium on approximately 10.5 acres of land.
The land currently belongs to the city of Miami, Miami-Dade County and a few private owners.
Beckham's group would need to purchase the private properties and pay the city a management fee of $850,000 per year for 60 years.
In return, the city would transfer the land it owns to the Miami-Dade School Board which would allow the soccer team to not pay property taxes on the stadium. Additionally, it would create a partnership with local schools.
School Board members will meet on Thursday to further discuss the proposal.
Beckham and his group have been searching for a potential home for their soccer stadium for several years but have been met with a lot of pushback, likely due to the fiasco that was caused with the building of Marlins Park.
