Bayshore Park on ex-golf course needs cash drive

Bayshore Park, a proposed 19.4-acre open space on a former par 3 Miami Beach golf course, is advancing with a $32 million development bid by the Buslam Company Partners. But the park still faces a $16.2 million city budget gap, of which $3 million is expected from a Resilient Florida Program grant.

The Buslam Company Partners, a Miami Beach-based development, design, brokerage, and asset operations firm, is to be awarded the $32 million bid to build Bayshore Park, with a contingency amount that raises the project price to about $35 million, said David Martinez, city capital improvement projects director. It was the lower of the two bids the city received; the other was $47 million.

“We originally thought we would only have a $5 million gap, but when you plug in all the needs and requirements of the project, the results are a total gap of $16.2 million,” he said. “The total project cost to fund is $42.7 million.”

Available for the project from city general obligation bond borrowing is $26.5 million, he told commissioners. “We will present a budget amendment [at the Dec. 14 commission meeting] to allocate the $13.2 million gap,” which subtracts the $3 million expected from the state grant, said Mr. Martinez. Buslam is to hold its bid price for six months after submission, expiring in April. The city should by then have appropriated the funds, he said.

“We’re confident that we can find the funding when we need to, because we did have that year-end amendment and the amount in that fund is $16.8 million,” said Kathie Brooks, city interim chief financial officer.

The community park, at 2795 Prairie Ave., would include a central lake, open meadows, playgrounds, tennis courts and rest facilities, a dog park, an amphitheater, an exercise cluster, water features, parking and a bus stop, according to bond documents. The park would also have a stormwater retention system and solar panels. The Design Review Board approved the project, designed by Savino & Miller Design Studio, in September 2020.

Construction was anticipated to start mid-2021 and take about 18 to 20 months, but as the project has not been awarded yet, construction is now expected to begin later next year.

Other engineering and architectural firms associated with the project are Ardaman & Associates, Coastal Systems International, Douglas Wood Associates, Global Sports & Tennis Design Group, arborist Tropical Designs Florida, William Lane Architecture, irrigation designer Kenneth Di Donato, and Johnson, Avedano, Lopez, Rodriguez and Walewski Engineering Group.

By the Feb. 1 commission meeting, the city is to update the status of the funding, including a possible $3 million allocation if the state grant does not come through.

“This is an incredibly important park for our city,” said Commissioner Ricky Arriola. “It’s almost 20 years or more in the making. It’s needed, and it’s going to be gorgeous… for all people to enjoy.”