Beckham stadium delayed? Miami still awaits proposal to build it on public golf course

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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article211192009.html

Beckham stadium delayed? Miami still awaits proposal to build it on public golf course

For two months, David Beckham's group has talked about switching from land the group bought in Overtown for a Miami soccer stadium to building it on the city-owned Melreese golf course — a plan that would have to move quickly because the administration wants voter approval for such a deal.

But Beckham's group has taken so long to produce the plans it promised that hopes of putting the lease on the August ballot have dried up, and it now appears the measure couldn't be voted on before November.

The delay could nudge the ballot question into tricky political territory as the November ballot — already jammed with 13 state constitutional amendments — might also include a loaded menu of city ballot questions involving leases of public land and the power structure of Miami's government.

It's unclear if Melreese has become the front-runner for a Major League Soccer stadium — Beckham and partner Jorge Mas have not publicly indicated so — but city officials have said the soccer group has promised renderings and economic impact figures for a Melreese stadium.

till, there are longstanding plans to build on nine acres in Overtown that were approved by MLS and have never been ruled out, and Beckham's group has met with Doral officials to discuss interest in privately owned land in the suburban west Miami-Dade city.

Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez told the Miami Herald he had not received a proposal from the Beckham team as of Tuesday, more than two months after Beckham and partner Jorge Mas met with him and Mayor Francis Suarez to discuss redeveloping part of Melreese golf course into a large soccer complex with a youth academy, retail, office space and park land.

Gonzalez said he does not want to rush any proposal through an administrative review and put it before the City Commission, which would have to approve the proposal at its May 24 meeting — the last meeting before the county's June 8 deadline for cities to submit questions for the August ballot.

"At this point, I don't see that happening," Gonzalez said. "It would have to be in November."

November's ballot could be crowded with other questions on large-scale redevelopments of public land in Miami, including two high-profile waterfront projects : A residential, hotel and riverside park plan being pursued by Hyatt Hotels for the site of the Downtown Hyatt Regency and Knight Center near the mouth of the Miami River, and a deal with the Adler Group to build a similar two-tower project where the city's waterfront administration building stands in exchange for a new government building elsewhere.

Another looming referendum: An overhaul of Miami's government that would make Suarez a "strong mayor," the city's most powerful elected official who, as the top administrator, would control the bureaucracy's day-to-day operations. Suarez is pursuing the referendum via ballot petition, an initiative that already faces opposition from Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is threatening to push several competing government-makeover questions onto the ballot.

Suarez said he doesn't worry about the viability of strong mayor and stadium questions together on a November ballot.

"I have a lot of faith in the democratic process and in the city of Miami's voters to decide what's best for themselves," he said.

Melreese Country Club near Miami International Airport could be the next site for David Beckham's soccer stadium.

Ballot congestion aside, a Melreese proposal is destined to become a flashpoint for green-space advocates and golfers who favor the course. A chorus of voices from the golfing community has spoken out against a stadium, according to publications such as Golfworld and an online petition to keep Melreese the way it is that has garnered about 1,400 signatures.

On the other hand, proponents could point to a recent audit that cast a poor light on the financial management of Melreese, which is operated by the family-run DeLucca Enterprises. In August, Miami's independent auditor general issued a report calling out Melreese's standards for awarding vendor contracts and general financial mismanagement.

The audit, first reported on by WPLG Local 10 in in March, found the DeLuccas gave a family-owned vendor a contract worth $52,642, failed to submit a budget to the city and missed deadlines for remitting credit card revenue to the city. The audit recommended stronger financial controls in the parks department.

The DeLucca family could not be reached for comment for this story before it was published online early Wednesday. Later Wednesday, an attorney representing the DeLuccas sent the Herald a copy of the company's response to the city audit.

In his response, Charles Delucca III rebuffed all of the auditor general's recommendations, saying he has saved the city money by forgoing the typical open bid process to find vendors. He argued that if the "best practices" were followed for the golf course, it would cost the city more money. Delucca never disputes hiring an affiliated company for work at Melreese, but he insisted he doesn't personally benefit from those contracts because the vendors make little to no profit, which keeps costs to the city low.

"In summary, Delucca does not receive any significant benefit from the transactions with Delucca affiliates, and all transactions with affiliates have substantially benefited the city by reducing the overall operating costs at Melreese," Delucca wrote.

Delucca also pushed back on the budgeting and credit card revenue issues, saying the city failed to include him in discussions about Melreese's budget over the years, forcing him to contend with insufficient funding to run the course, and criticizing the city's internal accounting for bookkeeping discrepancies.

Gonzalez said he wants a review of Melreese this summer to see if the operation has changed.

"I've been made aware of of the audit, and my plan is to conduct another audit at the one-year mark to see if they have tightened up their financial operations," he said.

The DeLuccas are well-regarded for their youth programs at Melreese, which city officials have said would continue to exist even if other parts of the park were redeveloped into a stadium.

Rafael Becker, 26, practices putting at the Melreese golf course in March 2018. The professional golfer believes “it would be a shame” for the city to allow a soccer stadium to be built in the park.

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https://www.bisnow.com/south-florida/news/construction-development/miami-worldcenter-downtown-transformation-88404

Never Mind South Beach. Miami's Downtown Is Undergoing A Multibillion-Dollar Transformation

In 2010, when LeBron James announced during a televised ESPN special that he would be “taking his talents to South Beach” and joining the Miami Heat, Floridians chuckled, because while South Beach is the main tourist drag on a barrier island, the Heat’s stadium is actually located across a causeway, on the mainland in downtown Miami.

Today, the script has flipped. Parts of South Beach are struggling with vacancies, and the action is downtown. The biggest project of all is Miami Worldcenter, a $2.7B mixed-use concept spearheaded by developers Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani on 27 acres right at the crossroads of Biscayne Boulevard and major highways. With four residential towers, a 1,700-room Marriott Marquis hotel and conference center, a 45-story office tower and 450K SF of high-street retail, is the biggest project currently going vertical in the U.S. after New York City's 28-acre Hudson Yards. (Both will soon be eclipsed by Water Street Tampa -- Jeff Vinik's $3B megadevelopment on 50 acres, which broke ground in April.) A media tour last week, which included a visit to the 43rd floor of the Paramount Miami Worldcenter condo tower, offered an incredible vantage point to witness the city's transformation.

Downtown Miami was for decades a blighted area with crumbling parking lots and homeless people blanketing the streets. The area was dead except for a 9-to-5 influx of downtown office workers. But developers saw opportunity. Falcone said he had a vision for a master plan when he bought the first big parcel for what would become Miami Worldcenter back in 2003, at an auction of city-owned land. Motwani joined him in 2005. Potential partners thought, "These guys are crazy," Falcone said. It took them 10 years and 40 contracts to assemble their site. They held on through the Great Recession, when land was essentially on sale, and foreign buyers had huge appetites for luxury condos. Towers by other developers went up, and between 2010 and 2016, the downtown population rose 30%. More recently, city officials and planners have begun to focus on transit-oriented development, coworking and a burgeoning tech scene. Despite some voices predicting another real estate bubble and the drumbeat of warnings about climate change, developers have been bullish.

In 2013, the Perez Art Museum Miami, founded by developer Jorge Perez of Related Group, moved into a prominent new building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron on the main drag, Biscayne Boulevard. Next door, the Frost Science Museum opened last year. Cranes are everywhere, including at the site of One Thousand Museum, designed by late, famed architect Zaha Hadid. There are also efforts underway to activate the waterfront promenade, the Baywalk, and David Beckham is spearheading plans for a soccer team and stadium.

There are also hopes that mass transit will improve. A new train station, Miami Central, opened last week just steps from Miami Worldcenter. Service on a new luxury railway, Brightline, starts there next weekend and will eventually go to Orlando. Another train service, Tri-Rail, is also slated to come into downtown, and a downtown elevated rail service, Metromover, also operates locally. Motwani marveled at how Miami is transforming from car-centric to pedestrian-first thinking. "Ten years ago, the county code for pedestrians was 'non-automotive units,'" he said. In total, the Downtown Development Authority says that there are currently 32,221 condos, 16,290 apartments, 20,000-plus hotel rooms, 6.1M SF of office space and 6.1M SF of retail in the development pipeline. (See an interactive map here.)

Of course, the focus is on luxury living — units at one of Miami Worldcenter's residential towers, Paramount, start at $700K. Miami will have to contend with the same challenges facing many major cities. The Miami Herald reported this week that teachers can’t afford 91% of area homes and the city is experimenting with building staff housing on campuses. The homeless population is losing protections, and the middle class is, as always, getting squeezed. Here is a 360-degree virtual reality rendering of what Miami Worldcenter will look like when complete. See Also: Fever Pitch: 9 New U.S. Soccer Stadiums Rise With Sport’s Popularity Related Topics: Miami, Miami Worldcenter Associates, WorldCenter Miami, Nitin Motwani, Art Falcone, Port of Miami, Downtown Miami, Paramount Miami Worldcenter, Caoba

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https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2018/05/17/Facilities/Beckham-Stadium.aspx

Vote On Miami MLS Stadium Could Be Pushed To November

David Beckham's MLS ownership group has "taken so long to produce the plans" for a Miami soccer stadium that hopes of putting the lease on the August ballot "have dried up, and it now appears the measure couldn't be voted on before November," according to Joey Flechas of the MIAMI HERALD. The delay...

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https://www.brotherlygame.com/2018/5/17/17363248/brotherly-game-daily-links-who-steps-up-for-sapong-and-burke-atletico-madrid-mls-miami

Brotherly Game Daily Links: Who steps up for Sapong and Burke?

Jim Curtin presser, another delay in the Miami MLS stadium, and Atletico Madrid win the Europa Cup

Miami vote on Beckham soccer stadium could be delayed

David Beckham and the Mas brothers have not submitted a proposal to redevelop the city-owned Melreese golf course into a sprawling soccer complex that would include a stadium for Miami's Major League Soccer team.

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https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/05/17/nisa-seeks-new-leadership-as-wilt-leaves-to-start-madison-club/

NISA seeks new leadership as Wilt leaves to start USL D3 club

Peter Wilt is leaving his gig as founding hero of upstart pro/rel league NISA to bring a USL D3 side to Wisconsin.

Big Top Events announced the hiring of Wilt on Thursday, and the executive is leading a drive to name the club for Madison Pro Soccer.

NISA, the North American Soccer League who widely advocated promotion and relegation but has hit some bumps along the way, now seeks a new leader. The organization announced a committee of club owners will lead a search.

“I wish the NISA teams and new leadership well,” Wilt said. “I am proud of the strong vision we developed and now others will need to carry it forward. I am hopeful that my stepping away will allow the disparate open system groups to unify around a shared vision.”

Wilt, who has launched five professional soccer teams in the closed system is returning to his roots the United Soccer Leagues. He will lead Madison Pro Soccer as Managing Director of Big Top Events’ soccer division. Previously, Wilt served as President, General Manager and part owner of the USISL (now USL) Minnesota Thunder. He has also launched USL’s Indy Eleven, NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars and MLS’ Chicago Fire.

NISA announced eight markets in August but has yet to announce a start date. It’s an intriguing idea, but — for better or worse — could undertake some monumental changes without Wilt in the driver’s seat.

As for Madison, Wilt knows what he’s doing when it comes to starting a club, so this is a solid get for the city.

Tags: Madison, National Independent Soccer Association, NISA, Peter Wilt, Promotion and relegation, United Soccer League, United Soccer Leagues, USL

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/article-montreal-impact-set-to-celebrate-25th-anniversary-of-first-home-game/

Montreal Impact set to celebrate 25th anniversary of first home game

On Monday, when the Los Angeles Galaxy visit Saputo Stadium, the club will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its first home game – a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies at the Claude Robillard Centre on May 21, 1993.

In only their second season, with Valerio Gazzola as coach, the Impact won the APSL title. Striker Jean Harbour, a member of the Rowdies in 1993, scored the championship-winning goal for Montreal.

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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/05/17/stejskal-real-darlington-nagbe-rises-atlanta

Stejskal: The real Darlington Nagbe rises in Atlanta

MARIETTA, Ga. – This is a story less about reality than perception; about how our hopes for what someone can be can blind us to the actuality of what they are; about how expectations, regardless of their validity, shape how we think and talk about everything around us.

This is a story about Darlington Nagbe.

As an American soccer public, we’ve always wanted the Atlanta United midfielder to be more. From the moment he scored his first professional goal with the Portland Timbers in 2011 – taking a headed clearance out of the air on the edge of the box, juggling once, juggling twice, then sweetly striking the purest of volleys into the top corner – we’ve dreamed of what he might be.

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http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/highlanders-say-they-can-co-exist-with-new-victoria-pro-team-1.23306714

Highlanders say they can co-exist with new Victoria pro team

Pro and amateur soccer are two different levels, two different things, say the Victoria Highlanders.

The amateur Highlanders say they can see themselves co-existing with a franchise in the professional Canadian Premier League, if one comes to Victoria next year in the inaugural CPL season.

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https://www.thegamblingtimes.com/2018/05/18/wayne-rooney-yet-finalise-mls-deal/

Wayne Rooney yet to finalise MLS deal

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https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/wayne-rooneys-potential-new-home-12555934

Wayne Rooney's potential new home in Washington revealed amid DC United talks

The property is worth an estimated $5.7m and boasts seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms