Virginia Key advisory board hears Marine Stadium Flex Park update; city aims for November ballot

At a meeting of the Miami Virginia Key Advisory Board, City Manager Art Noriega updated members on the Marine Stadium Flex Park request for proposals and related waterfront projects and said staff aims to have ballot language to the City Commission by its second July meeting so the measure could appear on the November ballot. The board did not take formal action because it lacked a quorum.

The update centered on the RFP for restoring and managing the Marine Stadium and the adjacent Flex Park. City Manager Art Noriega said the selection committee has made a recommendation that is being drafted into a memo and sent for his review. "Our intent is to begin the negotiation process, come up with some overarching financial and deal terms, and then draft the ballot language around it and hopefully have that ballot language to the Commission by the second meeting in July so that we make a November ballot," Noriega said. He also told the board the recommendation is not yet public and that a cone of silence remains on the solicitation until formal documents are produced.

Board members raised operational and community concerns. Members asked whether the RFP covered the entire Marine Stadium footprint and the adjacent parkland (asked by a board member who referenced 15 or 17 acres); Noriega replied the operator proposals cover the Marine Stadium and the Flex Park but said he did not recall the exact acreage. The manager told the board the boat ramp will be "managed similar to how we manage all of our boat ramps," but added that detailed operating rules will depend on terms negotiated with the selected operator.

Several board members and representatives of Key Biscayne urged the city to address traffic, noise and ingress/egress planning as part of any operator agreement. Board members recommended that the selection committee consider event caps and limits on weekday activity to reduce traffic impacts, and asked that the committee evaluate operational plans in addition to financial offers. "We don't want to create unnecessary traffic issues," Noriega said, and said operational parameters could include caps on event days and weekday restrictions.

The meeting also covered related waterfront items. Noriega said negotiations on the Rickenbacker Marina remain ongoing after a court ruling ordered the city to award a longstanding solicitation; he said the solicitation dates to several years ago and that some appraisal updates and final term negotiations remain. "We're on the very tail end and we're trying to get that on because that has to go to referendum as well," Noriega said.

Board members discussed the landfill site and community master plan for the larger footprint, noting parts of the area once envisioned as green space have been paved for events. The board agreed a consultant briefing on the landfill/master-plan work will be scheduled for the July meeting. Members also discussed a high‑profile regional proposal for replacing or altering the Bear Cut Bridge; the board emphasized any causeway or bridge work should be coordinated across county, village and city jurisdictions and planned in a way that avoids duplicative capital spending.

Members asked for clarity on the Flex Park parameters in the RFP. Andrew Frey said the city will need to work with any proposed operating partner to determine a feasible business plan to help pay for restoration and to set design and operating parameters. Frey summarized staff comments: "We'd have to talk with whoever the proposed operating partner is about, you know, what a feasible business plan is, you know, to help pay for the restoration of the Marine Stadium, and what would make it a successful venue in order to determine what those parameters might be."

Other details shared at the meeting: staff provided board members copies of the two RFP proposals (about 250 pages each), the selection committee process produced an oral recommendation that is being memorialized in a memo, and the city indicated some proposals studied by prior administrations (including work by an architect paid roughly $750,000 for predesign work) exist alongside the current solicitation. Several participants noted that any long-term lease or sale of waterfront property requires voter approval under Charter Section 29, and Noriega reiterated that the city intends to follow that process.

Because the board lacked a quorum, members did not vote on any motions related to the RFP or the other waterfront items. The only formal action during the meeting was a motion to adjourn, which was seconded and carried by voice vote.