City of Miami to give $50M in development fees to Underline project

Miami commissioners committed to funding 40 percent of the Underline, a plan to redevelop a 10-milelong path underneath the Metrorail.

The commission approved the $50 million at a meeting on Thursday, marking the biggest source of funding for the planned linear park and trail, which runs from the Miami River (Brickell) to Dadeland. About $67 million, will be raised privately and through other public funds. The project is expected to cost $120 million.

The $50 million will come from development fees generated by projects in the city and within 1,000 feet of the Metrorail over the course of six years, according to the Miami Herald. If developers give directly to the Underline, the amount would be reduced, the newspaper reported. Earlier this year, Swire Properties committed $600,000 to the project.

Daly plans to break ground next fall. James Corner Field Operations, which designed the High Line in New York, is designing the Underline. 

Prior to Swire’s donation, the Underline had already secured $7 million in public funding set aside for the Brickell segment, the first to be developed. That breaks down to $3 million from Miami-Dade County, $2 million from the state of Florida, $1 million from the city of Miami impact fees and $1 million from a Florida Department of Transportation grant. The Knight Foundation has also given about $515,000 over the past two years.  [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis