Of course it’s a mega retail shopping complex. You didn’t think it would be just a stadium, did ya? For soccer? Where’s the fun (read: money) in that?
Well kept secret details of the long-awaited plan to turn Melreese Golf Course, the only golf course owned by the city of Miami and a historic gem, into a mega retail destination with shops, offices and restaurants, plus a 700-room 
hotel, have come out only in recent days, since the item is coming before the Miami Commission Thursday. And people are actually surprised that only a tiny, little bit of the plan includes a 25,000-seat soccer stadium?
This ain’t about a public venue for Kendall families to go to major league soccer games, something we all want. This is about a sweetheart deal public land grab. This is so David Beckham and his new Miami partners, which include Jorge Mas and the Mas family, turn it into a $1 billion, 73-acre complex with 600,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 400,000 square feet of office space and at least 3,700 parking spaces that have a business plan all of their own.
Read related: Lawsuit to shed light on soccer stadium deal, land taken by eminent domain
It’s bigger than Brickell City Center and might have once been deemed the largest shopping complex ever imagined, except for that mega mall in Northwest Dade.
Except that this is smack in the middle of our gridlocked Miami-Dade, right next to Miami International Airport.
That’s only the first reason not to entertain this silly idea — at least for now. Until we have some of the stupid smart plan solutions in place, there is no reason to add this many trips to our already busy 37th Avenue.
But there are other reasons. How about that it’s a no-bid deal given to a bunch of insiders with connections to City Hall? How about the fact that the details about the shopping center on steroids was kept secret from everybody until 
the last minute? Even Beckham and co — who were just kidding with their plan to build the stadium in Overtown — know it’s a tough sell.
What else do we still not know?
Proponents will say that this is an economic win with a guaranteed paltry $3.5 million a year in rent to the city and $44 million or so a year in tax revenue. All they want is the chance to bring this to voters.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez’s own land for/near new soccer stadium
But that’s not entirely honest. All they really want is a chance to bring a slick, shiny multi-million dollar campaign to convince voters that this is in their best interest. They are going to use words like Freedom to tug at the heart strings and might even conjure Cuban exile royalty ghosts and what their wishes might have been if he was alive today. They are going to go all out, balls to the wall. If you think the FIU campaign to get the Youth Fair land lease referendum passed was something special, get ready for the campaign of your lives.
To them, “taking it to the voters” is basically a yes.
Because the opposition will not have the money that the developers making millions on this sweetheart real estate deal have, so there won’t be a slick campaign for the no vote. That will all be grassroots. And, probably, hopefully, viral. But still, it will be an uphill battle against the better funded side.
The city of Miami is selling itself and its citizens cheap if it allows this to even go to a public vote, knowing full well what that means. This is nothing more than a no-bid contract for a bunch of political insiders who are tr
ying to take advantage of us. The way the development is unfolding, the land is worth way more than $4 or $5 million a year. Which is why some people have urged the commission to open the golf course up to bids — make it a competitive process and see what others might pay to do the same thing.
Read related: King Petty Carlos Gimenez gets goofy over soccer stadium
Beckham et al don’t want that. Because they can’t compete. That’s why they’re flying in all kinds of cheerleaders today and have to plan a tailgate party by soccer fans to try to sway the commission.
Don’t believe the hype. Take a step back and let’s look at this with time and more input from the community.
Ladra has heard that two of the five commissioners are already against the plan. That includes Willy Gort, whose district includes Melreese. Here’s hoping that third vote is off the fence today on the right side.
This is not the plan to take to voters if they ever want to convince us to do anything with public land for a stadium. Keyword: Stadium.
Miami commission should kick no-bid soccer shopping center out of Melreese added by Ladra on
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