KB soccer players could gain new fields with land deal involving Miami’s MLS team

Some kids in Key Biscayne’s youth soccer program probably have never heard of David Beckham.

But the legendary English soccer star, who retired in 2013 after 21 seasons, might be providing a huge assist toward the Village’s long-anticipated goal of expanding its recreation fields.

The president and a co-owner of Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF, now in its third season, has been feverishly searching for a permanent home location for the club in Miami-Dade County — part of the requirement allowing the Herons to join the league.

After exploring at least five options, the team’s ownership (which now operates through Miami Freedom Park LLC) has its sights set on an area near the Miami International Airport, where a proposed 25,000-seat stadium and other mixed-use public amenities, including a hotel, could be built on land where the city-owned Melreese Country Club golf course is.

If that deal is approved by at least four of five City of Miami commissioners, Miami would require lost park space to be replaced with other public parks or recreation fields within the city limits.

A recent report in the Miami Herald, based on its public records request, shows that a handful of potential park sites are being looked at by City of Miami Manager Art Noriega, including “about 7.8 acres on the northwest section of Virginia Key, next to the wastewater treatment plant, (which) could be transferred into playing fields.”

“There’s nothing there now … but I’d be happy to see additional recreational (areas) for Key Biscayne,” said Todd Hofferberth, the Village’s Parks and Recreation Director. “I haven’t seen anything about how that would be operated. But, potentially, it could be a boon (for us).”

Especially if Beckham’s organization is footing — no pun intended — the bill.

Inter Miami FC, reportedly, would lease 73 acres from the city, but 20 acres would need a zoning change to convert some city-owned properties into new parks. A key vote regarding land lease terms for those open spaces and the proposed redevelopment of the golf course, now zoned as a city park, is set for April 28.

Marcelo Radice, president of Key Biscayne Soccer Inc., where 1,100 kids have maximized the highly regarded youth soccer program, has had investors willing to build parks in the Virginia Key area, “but the city doesn’t want to give it to a public-private partnership. … We have no more alternatives (for fields). On Key Biscayne, we’re tapped out,” he said.

As more people from Argentina, Uruguay or Chile, for example, move into the area, he said, they are bringing with them new Latin national sports, such as rugby and field hockey, which expand the recreation programs even further.

“Three years ago, we knew this day would come, especially with the changing demographics,” Radice said, noting the island’s soccer program was introduced as far back as 1971.

According to Radice, the 7.8 acres being considered as part of Beckham’s Miami Freedom Park deal would be on land that was actually dredged from the PortMiami channel to allow super tankers into the port. Environmental officials recommended tons of dirt be packed onto the site to decontaminate the toxic materials once found there.

The tract of land is opposite the 125-acre site where a potential sports park was to be built on the south side of the sewage treatment plant (where an actual landfill is located), as part of the 2010 Virginia Key Master Plan.

The proposed site could not only entertain much-needed playing fields for soccer, field hockey, flag football, rugby, and perhaps baseball and softball, but also could provide trails and park space with magnificent bay views.

Radice said Village Manager Steve Williamson also has been in contact with Noriega, expressing a desire to create more playing fields, especially for the growing youth athletic programs.

“As it is, we can’t grow anymore,” he said. “Now, our residents are on wait lists and, now, they can’t enjoy sports here. I keep telling them to let the Council members know at each meeting.”

A Key Biscayne Youth Advisory Board meeting was scheduled last week, but was canceled when there was no quorum.

Other possible park solutions

The approval for construction of the soccer stadium at the Melreese golf course site was approved by about 60% of the voters in a public referendum held on Nov. 6, 2018. Reportedly, the soccer owners would make annual installments of $20 million for 30 years for improvements to public parks across the city. But the plan has faced opposition from golf club supporters, while the cleaning of toxic incinerator ash in the soil still must be worked out.

Some 58 acres would be devoted to public parks and green space; a tech hub; restaurants and shops; and soccer fields for the community — all with privately funded dollars. The organization said the deal would contribute more than $40 million in annual tax revenue to the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, the State of Florida, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and would generate more than 13,000 jobs.

Inter Miami CF, which won its first game of the season Saturday, now plays its home MLS matches at DRV PNK Stadium, site of the former Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, about 1 hour, 15 minutes from Key Biscayne.

Other stadium options the club had looked into included: Dodge Island at PortMiami (2013); the Downtown Miami waterfront at Museum Park (2014); a site adjacent to Major League Baseball’s Marlins Park (2015); and a privately owned site in Miami’s Overtown (2015-16). The team also considered Riccardo Silva Stadium at Florida International University.

The vote by City of Miami commissioners on April 28 “would determine whether the city will lease the publicly owned land to the team for 99 years,” according to the Miami Herald report, yet none of the lease documents show where new parks might be built.

In addition to Virginia Key, other possible rezoning locations for city parks and fields that the public records request revealed included:

– Near LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, where 3.6 acres would be available across two lots.

– North of the Miami City Cemetery, a state heritage landmark, where about 3 acres would be available.

– About 6.1 acres at a city parks and recreation maintenance facility in Allapattah.

– An area where Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium, another heritage landmark, used to be.

Radice said he actually would favor a quicker path to more green space by re-purposing the tennis courts at Crandon Park on the west side, but he realizes the deeded land maintains it must be used for tennis.

But, he is excited about the latest developments, although he believes it likely will take years before all the red tape is cut.

“If they would get that land ready … we would be ecstatic,” said Radice, regarding Virginia Key. “I know the Village has had an eyeball on that area for quite some time.

“A lot of people don’t mind parks, but then all of a sudden, they start seeing light poles going up, and start hearing noise and people still gathering at 10 at night,” he explained. “But this would be an ideal space that’s not doing anything now.”

And, maybe then, all those kids will start to “bend it like Beckham.”