FYI Miami: July 24, 2025

PLAN FOR NEW PLAZA: County commissioners last week approved without discussion conceptual plans for Dan Paul Plaza, a nearly three-acre open space behind the Kaseya Center on Biscayne Bay that was envisioned as public space when the arena was approved for construction in the late 1990s. For nearly three decades the site has been used primarily as a staging area for events at the arena. The agreement would be for joint use of the space between the public and the arena, as the west side of the site is to be paved and remain a staging area. With the vote of approval, the county administration is to negotiate with Basketball Properties Ltd. For what is now seen to be green space, a playground, a waterfront promenade, a kayak launch, a public art installation and expanded viewing areas. No funding sources for the work have been cited.

SATELLITE FIRM DELAYED: For a second time, Miami-Dade commissioners last week deferred a vote on jobs incentives for a Texas developer of space-based broadband technologies that makes and operates satellites and plans to set up a Homestead manufacturing plant with 235 workers as it invests $25 million to create a 90,000-square-foot plant. The employer is not named in legislation that would see the company be paid $594,000 in county targeted jobs incentives, but the description matches AST SpaceMobile of Midland, TX. The company aims to create the only space-based broadband cellular network.

TERMINAL CASE: Miami-Dade commissioners agreed last week to pay the Greater Miami Expressway Agency $8.2 million in expanded costs to build the Dolphin Station Park and Ride Terminal. The project started out at $10 million under the former Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. As the county sought added bells and whistles, including electric vehicle charging stations, a transit facility gateway and an air-conditioned transit hub, costs rose. But during a legal dispute over who actually controlled five tollways in the county, the bill was never paid as project costs ballooned to $18.2 million. The terminal is at the Homestead Extension of the Florida Turnpike and Northwest 12th Street.

GAS PRICE CYCLES: While the average national price of gasoline fell 1.7 cents a gallon last week, prices in Miami rose 15.4 cents per gallon to $3.07. Florida is among a handful of states that are “prone to a phenomenon known as price cycling, where prices can spike and plunge every couple of weeks even if wholesale costs remain mostly unchanged,” explained GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan. Prices in Miami are 3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and 27.6 cents lower than a year ago. 

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