Miami Freedom Park and Soccer Village gets first-reading approval, sports fields on Virginia Key also on list

Opening up more park space for Key Biscayne’s youth sports, in particular, appears to have scored a giant dose of reality late Thursday night.

City of Miami commissioners — who earlier in the day honored the 126th birthday of the city by announcing city taxes would be reduced during this crucial year — passed the first reading of a set of ordinances 4-1 to open green space at 3851 Rickenbacker Causeway on Virginia Key and a handful of other areas by changing the future use designation from “major institutional, public facilities, transportation and utilities” to “public parks and recreation.”

Commissioners are not scheduled to meet again until September.

The new recreational, or park, space stems from a new professional soccer stadium that translates to “no-net loss” of green space as a trade-off for the 99-year stadium land lease.

Miami Freedom Park and Soccer Village, which will be the future home of Inter Miami FC in the MLS and backed by soccer star David Beckham, was given the go-ahead in late April by Miami commissioners. The stadium is to be built on land where the Melreese Country Club is, near Miami International Airport. The proposed Special Area Plan (SAP) includes the renovation of 58 acres of the existing golf course into a passive and active public park.

The Melreese golf course at International Links is where Tiger Woods made his first professional appearance in South Florida, and where a long list of sports celebrities, including Liván Hernandez have sharpened his games.

If built in time, Miami Freedom Park possibly could serve as a practice field for teams competing in the 2026 World Cup at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The land trade-off would provide the Miami area a handful of locations — more than 22 acres in all — of unused, abandoned, or vacant land that can be converted to public green spaces for parks or recreational fields, if warranted.

Officials delivered their “no-net loss” presentation during the 13th hour of Thursday’s exhausting Miami City Commission meeting, showing a few adjustments to boundaries of land parcels but actually increasing the overall trade-off areas to nearly two more acres, from 20.9.

Virginia Key has long been considered an area where a potential sports complex could go, but talks broke off. Now, with a big push from Key Biscayne, where the Village is tapped out trying to accommodate practice and playing fields, the area on Virginia Key would serve as a tremendous benefit.

Miami Freedom Park, meanwhile, is slated to be a 25,000-seat soccer stadium, with a large parking garage, and a village complete with rooftop sports fields, and a mixed-use retail and commercial area with a hotel and offices.

Other areas that will benefit from the added green space include properties at:

2735 NW 10th Ave.

2615 NW 8 Ave.

150 NE 19th St.

1950 NW 12th Ave.

1641, 1649, 1651 and 1680 NW 5th St.

1610 NW 6th St.