Rendering of proposed redeveloped Miami Beach Convention Center
The decades-long fight to upgrade Miami Beach Convention Center was dealt a setback recently.
Although a referendum to renovate Miami Beach Convention Center was struck down last week by a Florida appeals court, representatives of South Beach ACE, the venue’s redevelopment team, said the result of South Florida’s November election will be the deciding factor in how this project will play out.
The recent court decision ruled that Miami must provide more details about the project to voters prior to seeking approval of the plan, which includes a hotly contested 99-year lease on city land for a private hotel, parking, and retail outlets.
The MBCC District Plan currently includes renovation and expansion of the convention center and 29 new acres of green and open usable public park space replacing 25 acres of asphalt and concrete. Parking at the north end of the convention center will be covered by a park and a rebuilt 17th Street garage adjacent to an 800-room hotel on top of the convention center. The plan also calls for maintaining and improving the Jackie Gleason Theater and improving pedestrian and vehicle mobility around the district.
“The hotel and retail will be 100 percent privately funded without any government subsidy and SBACE will pay fair market rent to the city,” said Max A. Sklar, director of the Miami Beach tourism, culture and economic development department.
The total cost of the public improvements is $686 million and will be primarily funded from visitor hotel taxes and new tax and lease revenues from the hotel and retail in the district. According to SBACE’s proposed plan, approximately $30 million will be needed annually to cover the debt on the $1-billion project.
The 1,040 replacement parking spaces will be financed by the city's Parking Enterprise Fund, with debt service payments paid by the net parking revenues of the spaces themselves. The city will control these spaces and set the rates.
Miami Beach has been studying the need for an expansion of the convention center since 2001.
On March 9, 2011, the city commission endorsed the concept of the convention center renovation and expansion, including the development of an adjacent hotel. The commission also authorized the city manager to secure necessary expertise required to assist with the project and to issue a Request for Proposals to secure those services.
In late May 2011 the commission agreed to look at broader development opportunities in the area beyond the convention center plan and ways to address the impact on traffic, mobility and impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods.
The maximum potential development site is approximately 52 acres that encompasses the convention center facility, adjacent surface parking lots, the 17th Street parking garage, the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, City Hall and other related city offices.
“While the total space available for redevelopment is up to 52 acres, the objective would be to create significant open public spaces and other amenities that benefit the whole community,” Sklar said. “The RFQ (Request for Qualifications) is the first step in an effort to create options for convention center improvements through a master development of city-owned properties surrounding the convention center that would generate new revenues to the city. These incremental revenues could be used to fund potential convention center improvements and/or provide operating funds.”
In January 2012, the city commission authorized the administration to issue an RFQ from qualified developers for a public-private mixed-use development in Miami Beach for the enhancement of the MBCC District, including the expansion of the convention center and development of a convention center hotel.
SBACE was chosen as the district’s developer by the city commission last July, following public meetings, development of design and negotiation of deal terms. The design team is led by architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm, the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), along with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and Raymond Jungles.
“Currently, the city needs to complete negotiations with SBACE for the material terms of the lease and development agreement,” Sklar said. “Simultaneously, the city needs to continue discussions with the county regarding the extension of the Community Redevelopment Agency in order to secure additional funding for the project.”
The city commission will then need to approve material terms of the lease/development agreement and call for a voter referendum on the material terms of the lease.
If voter approval is achieved, extension of the RDA will be finalized with the county, the city commission will need to adopt the finalized development agreement, and the project will then begin the regulatory approval process for the project moving forward.
“The city’s consultant estimated that over 30 years the project will generate $3 billion in spending for local businesses,” Sklar said. “The consultant also estimated that the project will create 1,500 jobs annually, immediately during construction, and the permanent operations will create 1,600 new jobs.”
Convention center advisory board chairman Stuart Blumberg, who opposes the convention center renovation, has called for a meeting Oct. 15 to discuss the project, and city manager Jimmy Morales will present commissioners an update at the next commission meeting Oct. 16.
Interviewed for this article: Max Sklar, (305) 673-7577