Built in 1963, the historic, city-owned Miami Marine Stadium off the Rickenbacker Causeway on Virginia Key is widely regarded as a singular feat of architecture and engineering but has been closed since 1992.
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A high-powered investment group with its eye on redeveloping the expansive Miami Marine Stadium property on Virginia Key has been quietly meeting with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and other city officials to float an unsolicited proposal for a water-oriented sports and amusement park on the site.
News of the previously undisclosed proposal has filtered out as the city administration gets set to seek a potential operator later this year for the marine stadium, which has been closed since 1992, amid growing political support for a long-delayed plan for the 1963 historic landmark’s renovation.
But while the city plan is limited to renovating and operating the marine stadium as a concert and performance venue, the oddly named Crxsspark group’s proposal extends well beyond the structure’s footprint to encompass acres of surrounding parking lots along the Rickenbacker Causeway, and possibly an adjacent city boat-storage rack facility as well as the also publicly owned Miami Rowing Club facility, sources say.
Crxsspark has not submitted any application or documents to the city, so available details of the plan are scant. The group’s Miami representative declined to comment in detail.
“We’re still in the early stages and not ready to discuss this publicly,” said Miami publicist Freddy Balsera, who is representing the group. “All we have done is present to see what people think.”
Several sources say the group’s proposal calls for a water-oriented sports and recreation center that would be privately funded and include a wave-generating pool for surfing as well as training facilities and lodging for competitive watersports and extreme-sports athletes.
A renovated stadium would also be part of the facility for use as an entertainment venue, although the estimated $60-million-plus cost of rehabilitation would be covered by municipal bonds, as the city has long been planning.
In a statement issued late Tuesday in response to questions from the Miami Herald, the group said sports represented in their proposed park include competitions popular with younger athletes that were added to the summer Olympics in recent years, including surfing, climbing and skating.
“Our mission to build and operate Adventure Sports Infrastructure is driven by our desire to help bring communities closer together and allow all ages and capabilities to dream big, get outdoors and experience new and exhilarating ways to enjoy a healthy lifestyle,” the statement read in part.
A video available on social-media platform Vimeo from Crxsspark shows computer-generated images of a proposed water and adventure sports park in Hong Kong that the group is also pursuing. Sources say the concept shown on the video, including elements such as a wave pool, a skateboard course, and docks and facilities for sailing and lodging for students and athletes, is broadly similar to what the group envisions for Virginia Key.
Suarez has been meeting with representatives of the group, which includes investors in Asia and Miami, since 2022, when he met with their Hong Kong-based architect to discuss the project. The architecture firm’s website displays a photo of a smiling Suarez wearing a Miami Heat T-shirt.
Members of the Crxsspark team last month made separate presentations of their conceptual plan to Suarez and to Commissioner Damian Pardo, whose district includes Virginia Key. The group intends to submit an unsolicited proposal to the city, the sources say, though the timing is unclear.
Suarez and Pardo declined interview requests.
Pardo, elected to the commission last year, has along with Suarez been a leading voice in favor of reviving the city’s stalled effort to reopen the stadium. The push was prompted by a consultant’s report, commissioned by the city, that concluded a reopened stadium would be financially successful, covering its costs and even turning a profit within a few years of reopening. The report also recommended hiring a private operator to manage the stadium.
Read more: After 32 years, support grows to reopen historic venue
At the request of Pardo and Suarez, city administrators have been working on a request for competitive bids for a stadium operator as the initial step in relaunching the renovation project, first proposed in 2009 under the administration of former Mayor Tomas Regalado. The city authorized $45 million in bonds for the project eight years ago, but never issued them. Support on the commission waned as costs, now estimated at more than $62 million, rose with inflation.
It’s unclear how the city’s planned request for proposals would be affected by the Crxsspark plan.
If the Crxsspark group does formally submit an application, commissioners could under city procurement rules elect to open up the property for competitive bids or go to voters with Crxsspark’s solo bid. The city followed the latter process in a controversial deal to turn over the Mel Reese Golf Course to a private group led by the Inter Miami soccer team for a massive commercial development with an attached stadium.
Crxsspark, which records show was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2021, created a Florida subsidiary a year ago, It is led by Australian investment manager Anthony Steains, a former managing director at private equity giant Blackstone in Hong Kong. State corporate records show the co-director is Rodrigo Veloso, a coconut water drink entrepreneur from Brazil who is based in Miami.
Sources say several plugged-in Miami figures that include architect Willy Bermello and Carlos Ferre, son of the late former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, are also involved as investors.
Their proposal could raise several issues, including concerns over the project’s effect on the island’s fragile ecosystems, which include a state nature preserve across the stadium artificial basin that was built for powerboat races. A commission-approved master plan, meanwhile, calls for a multi-use “flex-park” on the property’s parking lots, though the city has not built it, as well as modestly scaled marine-oriented development, like an exhibition hall.
The plan is also certain to prompt concerns about the impact on traffic on the Rickenbacker Causeway from the village of Key Biscayne. Large-scale events previously held on the property, like the Ultra music festival and the Miami boat show, prompted traffic tie-ups that raised the ire of village residents.
Key Biscayne Mayor Joe Rasco did not return a message seeking comment.
Balsera, the Crxsspark representative, said the group intends to soon make presentations to get feedback from stakeholders such as preservationists and activists who have long pushed for the stadium’s resuscitation, the city of Miami’s Virginia Key Advisory Board and Key Biscayne leaders.
Word of the water park proposal comes amid uncertainty over the future of other publicly owned waterfront attractions, including Miami Seaquarium. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is seeking to evict the Seaquarium’s operator over issues with the treatment of the park’s animals.
The operators of Jungle Island on city owned Watson Island, meanwhile, have jettisoned voter-approved plans for a hotel and eco-resort at the perennially struggling theme park and are seeking approval instead for a condo tower.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024, 5:30 AM.
