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Miami-Dade County plans redevelopment agency for MLS stadium financing

MLSA potential source of MLS stadium financing for David Beckham’s Miami investors could come from a new Miami-Dade County redevelopment agency charged with improving the Miami Marlins ballpark area.

To say that it will be a complicated deal to put together an MLS stadium plan is an understatement, as both Miami and Miami-Dade County will need to combine forces to finance land-acquisition costs, with local residents being asked to give up their homes for the project.

But the wheels have begun to move, as Miami-Dade launches the process needed to establish a redevelopment agency to acquire the land and extend the Metromover line from downtown. The proposed Orange Sports Complex Community Redevelopment Agency, set to be debated tomorrow by the county’s Economic Prosperity Committee, would be the vehicle for that financing. But before a CRA can be established, a Finding of Necessity needs to be prepared. From Miami Today:

The study is to consider whether a redevelopment agency could be used to fund land for the dual-purpose stadium as well as the construction of a Metromover leg from Government Center downtown to the stadium site.

The study, the resolution says, would provide for the redevelopment agency to close its doors once the two projects were fully funded. It would also provide that county taxes pay in half of the redevelopment agency’s trust fund and all other taxing authorities contribute the other half. Because the site is in the City of Miami, that would require the city to contribute a large share of the other half of the redevelopment agency’s funding.

The agency’s boundaries are suggested to be Flagler Street to the South, Northwest 22nd Avenue to the west, and the Miami River to the north and east, though the resolution says the study being sought could expand that area if needed.

Meanwhile, Beckham is doing a pretty good job of maintaining interest in the MLS team, doing an interview with the Daily Star where he says his group will run the Miami team like Manchester United is run — whatever that means:

But he also took time out to tell the Daily Star Sunday that his new club should be up and running within six weeks.

Beckham, 40, said: “We want the club to be run professionally — everything needs to be run like a club like Manchester United. You have to look at it like that.

“Luckily, I’ve had a little bit of experience in that and I definitely will be a demanding owner.”

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August Publications