Beckham secures land for Miami MLS stadium
Beckham’s group has finally secured all the land they need to build their proposed stadium
The city will still need to approve the actual construction of the stadium, but now that Beckham’s group has promised to use private funds to build the stadium and create 50 permanent jobs, it appears the plan has support. The city and county would not give the stadium any subsidies, according to reports.
“The process was lengthy, difficult, but necessary in order to ensure that Miami-Dade County taxpayers were properly compensated,” Miami Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said in a statement.
The planned stadium site is located in Overtown, just outside of downtown Miami, after sites along Miami’s waterfront and near Marlins Park hit heavy opposition. The stadium would cost $300 million and seat 25,000, but feature no parking garages.
Beckham has been trying to gather the pieces to build a downtown stadium since 2013. He was given the rights to an MLS expansion franchise for the steeply discounted price of $25 million as part of his deal to join the LA Galaxy as a player in 2007.
MLS had been losing patience with the drawn-out efforts in Miami, with commissioner Don Garber publicly saying this year that Beckham was running out of time. Garber has insisted MLS expansion franchises need fully controlled stadiums in downtown locations, but Beckham’s group repeatedly ran into problems with potential stadium sites.