Second place bidder almost gets ‘consolation prize’
Miami-Dade leaders have long wanted to have a four-star hotel at Miami International Airport to elevate the facility to world class status and give overnighters a decent place to stay on campus. The Miami International Airport Hotel is more than 60 years old and an embarrassment, county commissioners say.
As cancelled flights become the norm, it makes more sense than ever to have more options at MIA.
On Tuesday, commissioners told the administration to negotiate a $240-million, 50-year lease agreement for the design, build, financing, operation and maintenance of the new hotel to a joint venture formed by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, and Fountainebleau Development LLC, a firm chaired by Jeffrey Soffer, who owns the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel.
Yuck already. It sucks that we’re going into business with and have to trust Stephen Ross and Jeffrey Soffer.
But we almost got two hotels in what turned out to be a classic example of commissioners trying to make their friends happy.
A number of commissioners — led by chairman Oliver Gilbert and Commissioners Kevin Cabrera and Keon Hardemon — wanted to direct the mayor to negotiate for a second hotel with the second place finisher in a drawn-out bid process. But it would amount to a no-bid giveaway, other commissioners argued, calling the second negotiation a “consolation prize.”
Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins called it a “participation trophy,” the kind that her 10-year-old son doesn’t accept anymore. “This is not peewee sports,” she said.
Both Cohen Higgins and commissioner Rene Garcia said it could become a dangerous precedent. “People who compete will be sent a chilling message,” Cohen Higgins said, “because in Miami-Dade County, we give out consolidation prizes and we will be asked to do that time and time again.”
The decision was split 7-6, with Vice Chair Anthony Rodriguez slowly giving the dissenting swing vote and his explanation that he did not want to vote on anything broader than a study to see if a second hotel is needed. Gilbert, Cabrera, Hardemon and Commissioners Marleine Bastien, Kionne McGhee and Juan Carlos Bermudez voted for the no-bid negotiations on the second hotel. Rodriguez, Cohen Higgins, Garcia and Commissioners Micky Steinberg, Eileen Higgins, Raquel Regalado and Ron Gonzalez voted against it.
Several commissioners referred to the pressure they have been getting from lobbyists on both sides for months.
“I’ve been lobbied ad nauseam at this point,” Gilbert said.
Cohen Higgins made an interesting comment — something insiders know but commissioners rarely acknowledge — about how close the connections often are.
“This is absolutely a second place prize to a competitor that didn’t even come close,” Cohen Higgins said, reminding colleagues that the two bids were 400-some points apart. “I understand that we all have friends so close that they’re family. But sometimes the best thing to tell our friends and families ‘No.'”
To whom was she referring?
The second place bidder, Parmco Airport Hospitality, is owned and/or managed by Darryl Parmenter and Paul Lambert. But Ladra doesn’t think she was talking about them. They have at least 10 registered lobbyists, according to the county website, including Al Dotson and former Sen. Oscar Braynon. But Ladra doesn’t think Cohen Higgins was talking about them either.
Ladra thinks Cohen Higgins meant Jesse Manzano-Plaza and his business partner Ralph Garcia Toledo, who were supposed to get this contract more than two years ago.
Miami-Dade moves to negotiate lease for one new airport hotel, not two added by Ladra on
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