County CommissionThursday, November 12
Miami-Dade committee delays the Miami Seaquarium lease vote with a Dec. 30 deadline looming
The 5AM Miami team
A Miami-Dade County Commission committee voted 3-1 Tuesday to defer the Miami Seaquarium redevelopment lease. The 249-page agreement went public just hours before the hearing, and chairman Rene Garcia told Local 10 it reached committee members only hours before the meeting. Commissioner Raquel Regalado opposed the delay.
The clock is ticking. Terra's David Martin says the deal must be finalized by Dec. 30 or the project is at risk. Laura Reynolds of the Friends of Biscayne Bay Advisory Board says the marina would be one of the largest in Dade County.
- Lease term: 99 years, with Resilient Aquarium LLC
- Marina size: 847 boats, per Reynolds
- Site: Virginia Key
The Seaquarium lease faces a Dec. 30 deadline
- Oct. 21County Commission unanimously approves the land use plan on first reading
- Nov. 10Committee votes 3-1 to defer the lease
- Nov. 19Final vote on the project's land use plan is anticipated
- Dec. 30Terra's David Martin says the deal must be finalized or the project is at risk
Sources: WPLG Local 10, Diario Las Américas
Terra's master plan calls for an 83,000-square-foot aquarium without marine mammals and a free three-quarter-mile waterfront walk called Ocean Walk. It also restores the Golden Dome and Flipper House. Critics worry about boat traffic and effects on manatees and seagrass. The project still needs more government and regulatory approvals.
The Seaquarium deal and plan by the numbers
- $100 million
- minimum private investment in the county's proposed deal
- $10 million
- for infrastructure and public spaces
- 295
- boat slips planned, plus dry storage for 552 boats
- 118,000 sq ft
- for a marine research and innovation center
Sources: Diario Las Américas, WPLG Local 10
Sources: Diario Las Américas, WPLG Local 10