New MB mayor wants convention plan scrapped

Miami Beach Mayor-elect Philip Levine is calling for the planned redevelopment of the city’s convention center to be scrapped in favor of a much smaller renovation.

Levine released a memo asking city commissioners to cancel negotiations with developer South Beach ACE on the $1.1 billion convention center redevelopment, the Miami Herald reported. He wants the hotel component removed from project plans so the city can use its own money for a renovation. The mayor-elect wants to put out a new call for bids on the proposed renovation.

The fate of the project hangs in the balance after November’s city elections, which resulted in a commission shake-up. Levine has had qualms about leasing the land to South Beach ACE.

Both South Beach ACE and Convention Center Advisory Board chairman Stuart Blumberg harshly criticized Levine’s memo. [Miami Herald] — Eric Kalis