{"id":304496,"date":"2026-06-11T23:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304496\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T23:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:15:09","slug":"miami-voters-to-decide-fate-of-virginia-key-marina-lease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304496\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami voters to decide fate of Virginia Key marina lease"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rickenbacker<\/p>\n

Rickenbacker Marina<\/p>\n

Miami Herald file<\/p>\n

The Miami City Commission has agreed to send a lucrative Virginia Key marina deal to voters this fall, teeing up what\u2019s likely to become a contentious campaign-season fight in the battle to redevelop a coveted slice of city-owned waterfront land.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Miami commission voted \u2014 somewhat reluctantly \u2014 to send the Virginia Key marina referendum to the November ballot. The proposal would award a long-term lease to Virginia Key, LLC to redevelop the 27-acre property on the west side of Virginia Key that includes the Rickenbacker Marina and Marine Stadium marina.<\/p>\n

The proposed deal that\u2019s going to voters includes:<\/p>\n

An initial 45-year term with two 15-year renewal optionsMinimum annual rent to the city of $2.2 million, with escalations, totaling approximately $204 million over the initial term, plus 6% of gross revenues for the privately funded marina redevelopmentApproximately $80 million privately funded investment to redevelop the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas \u201cin an environmentally sensitive manner, including boat storage, restaurants, retail, and public parking\u201d<\/p>\n

While the City Commission voted unanimously Thursday to send the proposal to voters, some commissioners appeared less than thrilled about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a bad deal for the city,\u201d Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela said.<\/p>\n

\"Commissioner Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela comments during a commission meeting at Miami City Hall on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

But city officials didn\u2019t have much choice in the matter. The city had previously solicited marina redevelopment proposals in a competitive bidding process, and Virginia Key, LLC, which had entered a bid, eventually took the matter to court. In 2021, Virginia Key, LLC sued the city<\/a>, arguing that the city \u201cwrongfully deprived\u201d it of being awarded the lease despite the fact that Virginia Key, LLC was selected twice through a competitive bidding process.<\/p>\n

The courts agreed<\/a>. In 2023, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alan Fine ordered the city to put the Virginia Key, LLC proposal out to voters, since the city charter requires voter approval for the sale or lease of city-owned waterfront land. Should voters sign off on the deal, Fine further ordered the city to award the contract to Virginia Key, LLC. The city appealed, but Florida\u2019s Third District Court of Appeal upheld Fine\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Thursday\u2019s commission meeting, Gabela said he was concerned about the fact that the lease terms are several years old at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t reflect the reality of today\u2019s prices. … I, for one, do not feel comfortable with the numbers dating back 10 years,\u201d Gabela said.<\/p>\n

\"City City Attorney George Wysong engages in discussion during a commission meeting at Miami City Hall on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

But City Attorney George Wysong said the case has been \u201clitigated up and down\u201d and that the city no longer has the ability to negotiate the terms. Continuing to delay the matter, Wysong said, could provoke further legal action from Virginia Key, LLC, such as initiating contempt proceedings and potentially putting city commissioners at risk of being sued in their individual capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing else that can be done,\u201d Wysong said.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Christine King, also an attorney, pushed back on Wysong\u2019s framing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just saying that I don\u2019t think you\u2019re being truthful with us, and by saying that we could be held personally liable if we vote one way or another is not true,\u201d King said. \u201cBut we are obligated to get this issue to our voters, and we\u2019re obligated to make sure that the contract that\u2019s going to them is the contract that was before the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christine Christine King, chairwoman of the Miami City Commission, listens during a commission meeting at Miami City Hall on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Aabad Melwani, whose family has operated the Rickenbacker Marina for more than 40 years, said at Thursday\u2019s meeting that the court order does not impose a timeline for the referendum to take place and that \u201cwe\u2019re in a different world today\u201d from when the city first solicited bids for the marina redevelopment.<\/p>\n

\u201cValues have skyrocketed. The costs of this project have at least doubled, and [Virginia Key, LLC\u2019s] proposed rents are outdated and far below market. No one here is proud of this deal,\u201d Melwani said.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Miami Herald after the vote, Melwani said he expects \u201cvigorous community opposition\u201d ahead of the November referendum.<\/p>\n

While the proposal is officially headed to the November ballot, voters will be the ultimate gatekeepers in deciding the fate of the city-owned property.<\/p>\n

Virginia Key, LLC said in a statement that in the lead-up to Election Day, \u201cwe look forward to sharing our vision with voters and demonstrating how this privately funded investment will transform a deteriorating property into a world-class waterfront destination, create jobs, improve public access, protect the environment, and generate significant new revenue for the City, without costing taxpayers a dime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of litigation, delays, and uncertainty, the public will now have a direct voice in determining the future of the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas,\u201d Virginia Key, LLC said.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Tess Riski covers Miami City Hall. She joined the Miami Herald in 2022 and has covered local politics throughout Miami-Dade County. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School\u2019s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rickenbacker Marina Miami Herald file The Miami City Commission has agreed to send a lucrative Virginia Key marina…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-304496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}