A key adviser for David Beckham’s Major League Soccer investment group took on a fierce opponent of a soccer stadium at PortMiami in a televised debate on Sunday.
John Alschuler, Beckham’s New York-based real estate adviser, and former Royal Caribbean Cruises executive John Fox argued over what would be the most appropriate uses for the southwest corner of Dodge Island on “Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede,” the Miami Herald reported. Alschuler claimed the seaport’s master plan accounts for a major commercial development on the proposed stadium site. But Fox, who is leading the Miami Seaport Alliance to campaign against a stadium at the port, said the land should be used to accommodate cruise and cargo growth.
Alschuler pointed out Royal Caribbean’s “sweetheart” lease at the port as the true motivation for its stadium opposition. Under the current lease for its three-building headquarters, Royal is slated to pay $12 per square foot in rent starting in 2015. That is considered about 45 percent of the market rate when the agreement was reached in 2011. [Miami Herald] — Eric Kalis