Beckham stadium discussions held in Miami

The American Institute of Architects and the Coral Gables Museum organized a three-part series of discussions on possible Miami soccer stadium sites for David Beckham and his backers.

Architects, urban planners, residents and other attendees kicked around potential locations for the Major League Soccer venue during the “Miami Soccer Stadium: Where or Where Not” series. Zyscovich and Architects founder Bernard Zyscovich found that nobody flatly opposed a stadium in Miami, but many participants had concerns about allocating valuable waterfront land for it.

Zyscovich told the Miami Herald he would like to see the stadium near substantial public transit and serve as a catalyst for other development.

“It could see a location that is near transit that’s possibly underutilized land or warehouse hangars,” he said. “Then we could begin to build a new neighborhood around it, just like we did when we made Midtown.”

Others, like Urban Environment League founding member Gregory Bush, said a stadium designed with retail and other uses near a low-income area could have a positive ripple effect. [Miami Herald] — Eric Kalis