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 | Week of June 15, 2000 |
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Upset over Miami Heat deal, city may bid out arena lot By Candi CalkinsMiami commissioners defended their decision to give the Miami Heat control of a parking lot and boat slips next to the American Airlines Arena but agreed last week to possibly reopen the project for competitive bids after learning the Heat has scaled back improvement plans for the city-owned site. Commissioner Arthur Teele, citing media criticism of the city's deal with Calor Development, the Heat's real estate division, defended last year's decision as a concession to satisfy aesthetic concerns. He said Heat executives were preparing for a grand opening and wanted the adjacent property cleaned up and presentable for television shots. In exchange for a revocable 30-day lease, the Heat had agreed to make $1.1 million in improvements, including landscaping, seawall repairs and other improvements. "It's more money than we were prepared to spend at that particular moment," Mr. Teele said. "All of a sudden this has turned into a sweetheart deal." The Miami Heat pays $2,500 annually for the right to operate valet parking services on the one-acre bayfront lot north of the arena. Lori Bilberry, director of asset management for the city, said six months later the Heat had spent $178,000 on shore-line improvements but is now scaling back plans for the property. She said the team plans about $528,000 in improvements, including $200,000 for the parking facility. Half the one-acre property will be lost to a Biscayne Boulevard widening project due in 2004. In the meantime, city commissioners contended the deal turns the cost of maintaining the property over to the private sector. Mayor Joe Carollo has criticized the deal, saying the city should participate in profits from the valet parking operation. He also objected to the city's turning over control of the property to the Heat without a competitive bid. Ms. Bilberry said a parking consultant hired to analyze the valet parking operation estimates the Miami Heat could be receiving anywhere from $132,000 to $222,000 in annual revenues. Commissioner Johnny Winton last week urged commissioners to take a new look at the property. "Absolutely this is a bad deal for the city," he said. "We ought to look at this very, very differently." Mr. Winton said asked city staffers to analyze the finances and study whether to request bids. Commissioners said parking profits from the city-owned property should benefit the city's parks department. "If there is money to be made, the money should accrue to the City of Miami," Mr. Teele said. He said he was concerned that the parking lot be landscaped according to city codes. "It has to be a first-class parking lot," he said. Commissioner Willy Gort said the commission's original decision was a policy matter. "We attached conditions," he said. The commission relies on others to assess whether the agreement is carried out, he said. "I think we have to build within the city somehow enforcement to make sure it gets done."
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