So close and yet so far.
The development team led by soccer star David Beckham has reportedly hit a roadblock while negotiating a land deal with Miami-Dade County for the planned Miami Soccer Stadium in Overtown.
An email exchange between a county lawyer and a Beckham attorney show the soccer star’s team is having a hard time warming up to the proposed deal Miami-Dade has put on the table, according to a report in the Miami Herald.
The county would waive a competitive bid for the roughly three acres Beckham needs to build his stadium in exchange for Beckham paying market value — appraised at about $9 million — as well as meeting county-dictated hiring goals and a $1 million fine if plans fall through, the Herald reported.
While Beckham’s group has not said outright what the issue is, the Herald cited sources close to the negotiation as saying Beckham’s partners — including Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and entertainment entrepreneur Simon Fuller — still need to sign off on the proposed contract.
Beckham has already closed on most of the Overtown land that he needs to build the stadium, with Miami-Dade’s three acres and city zoning approvals being the final holdouts.
Regardless of the impasse, the Herald reported, county officials are eager to move forward and Beckham’s representatives said the team hopes to resolve the issue soon.
This snag marks the latest problem for Beckham’s now two-year journey to build a Major League Soccer stadium in Miami. His original plans to develop one at PortMiami were shot down by county officials, and his most recent attempts to build on land next to Marlins Park fell apart in December. [Miami Herald] — Sean Stewart-Muniz