Miami Voters, Not the Commission, Will Decide Virginia Key's Marinas
A city forced to the ballot by a court order is now asking voters to settle what commissioners could not.
Miami voters, not the city commission, will decide on Nov. 3 whether to hand a joint venture called Virginia Key LLC a 45-year lease over the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas, a fight that reached the ballot only after a court ordered the city to put it there.
Why it matters
Commissioners did not choose this vote. They passed the resolution sending it to voters in June only after the city attorney told them a court had left no other option, the outcome of a lawsuit Virginia Key LLC filed against the city in 2021 over a marina contract it says it won through two competitive bids. That history frames the fight now playing out over the ballot language itself: a Miami-Dade circuit judge in August rejected a legal challenge seeking to keep the question off the Nov. 3 ballot, clearing the way for the vote. Backers, including the RCI Group and Dallas-based Suntex Marinas venture behind the deal, say the roughly $80 million redevelopment costs Miami taxpayers nothing. Friends of Biscayne Bay board member Bruce Matheson counters that “the voters have to be real conscious of what they’re giving up if they allow all of this stuff to go through.” Read more South Florida land-use fights at the South Florida hub.
The numbers
The referendum covers roughly 27.62 acres across the two marinas for an initial 45-year term with two 15-year renewal options. The city’s minimum guaranteed rent starts at $2.2 million a year with escalations, totaling an estimated $203.98 million over the initial term, plus 6 percent of gross revenues on top of that floor. Virginia Key LLC is pledging approximately $80 million in privately funded improvements, including more than 1,200 feet of new baywalk, public kayak and paddleboard launches, and Florida Clean Marina certification. Environmental critics, including Friends of Biscayne Bay’s Charles Munroe and Laura Reynolds, argue the expanded footprint threatens cumulative harm to the bay and call the project’s “Save Virginia Key” branding misleading.
What’s next
Ballots go out to Miami voters in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election, with the marina lease appearing alongside other citywide questions. A win for Virginia Key LLC would let the joint venture begin permitting the marina overhaul under its existing lease terms; a loss would send the city back to the operator selection process that has already produced one lawsuit. Opponents have signaled they are not done challenging the deal in court even as the vote proceeds.