Vote March 19

Vol. 5, No. 3 3 March 2024

WHAT CAN BE STOPPED?

In case you are still mystified by the reference on the three glossy flyers that the LEADERSHIP FOR SOUTH MIAMI PC mailed out, #60 is the little oval that signifies "Yes" to the question: Shall the Charter be amended to authorize leases exceeding 50 years for City property involving the redevelopment of City Hall?

LEADERSHIP FOR SOUTH MIAMI PC is a Professional Corporation. Javier Fernandez is the Chairperson, and an accountant is both the treasurer and agent. [The accountant is the treasurer for a number of PCs.] This particular PC is housed in a mail box at the UPS store in the northeast mall at US1 and 67 Avenue. The PC does not state its purpose, nor does it post its affiliates. My assumption is that the three flyers - which arrived before the middle of last month - are the Mayor's message, and that the people who contributed to the PC are not responsible for the message's content .

Unfortunately, the flyers do not explain how enacting the amendment will lower property taxes, provide new revenue for parks and police, build a new library, nor rebuild City Hall. My suspicion is that the Mayor believes that if the City Hall land is leased to a developer, that developer will build a conglomeration that will include a new City Hall, police station, library and numerous other enterprises. It would be a very complex arrangement that would have to include the County, because the library is Miami-Dade County's.

The City has posted an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) [See the FINAL City Hall Site Redevelopment document] which asks applicants to detail their qualifications to build a complex on those properties. The request describes what the project may entail: “The Project may also feature a mix of land uses that incorporate transit-oriented development principles to build upon the transit and civic infrastructure of the area. Towards that end, the development may feature:  Any combination of uses, including, but not limited to, residential, retail, office, medical, lodging, civic, and other land uses." (p. 23) Included in the list is that the Sylva Martin building might be moved (see p. 20), and that a piece of the project has to include a park that is the same size as the Jean Willis Park (see p. 23).

I assume that the whomever is masterminding this proposal believes that the developer's rent of the land will mean that the City will get extra income for as long as the lease. If the property is used to generate income, one hopes that the contract will require that the developer/owner pay the property taxes and not the City. [The last public-private contract the City had was for the downtown garage. That whole deal had to be completely reworked, because the partner was not reliable. I do know that the City has not been happy with the cooperation the Girls Scouts have given it for the piece of City land for which they have a hundred year lease.]

I do not know why a lease longer than 50 years might be more attractive to developers. If the commercial part of the complex is profitable, that would be a good reason for a long lease, from the developer's view point. It would, of course, complicate the City's options, if the City ever wanted to change the location of its offices or Police Department. On the other hand, if it were a failing enterprise, the developer/owner would be the one with a problem. A short lease can always be renewed. And I suppose, the parties both willing, a lease can be renegotiated.

I also assume that building a new City Hall and police station is well beyond the City's current means. If the City were to float bonds to raise the necessary funds, it would also have to raise taxes to pay off those bonds. In 2015, a very interesting pamphlet was published. It detailed several ways in which to fund a new City Hall, police station and library.

From my nostalgic point of view, I do not like the thought of moving the Sylva Martin building from where it is currently located. I think the location is part of what makes it an historical monument. I would love to see it re-purposed where it sits as a multi-functional meeting space that could be used for Commission, other City meetings, City functions, and for other Community activities [like the free AARP Tax-Aide help every year].

Similarly, the thought of replacing Jean Willis park is unwelcome. Recreating that flowering park somewhere else on the property is hard to imagine.

Some people are very worried about the height that this redevelopment might reach. I, for one, think it is close enough to the MetroRail to match what has been happening north of South Miami. And south for that matter. The County is letting a tall student housing building go up at the corner of Sunset and US1; another tall structure will not be so out of place.

What a large construction might mean for me is that the MetroRail noise that wakes me at 5:30 am would be dampened. As far as I can tell, the County may never finish putting up the sound barriers along the rail. And I'm not sure that what they are putting up is effective.

Perhaps the Commission will insist that a goodly portion of the residences in the complex be "affordable." That would be to the City's credit.

About 10 years ago, when the current City Hall was 60 years old, it was already obsolete and inefficient. From (perhaps) a realistic point of view, I wonder if anything that is built in the next couple of years will be viable in fifty. In addition, I suspect that - unless something very dramatic is done - there will be insufficient drinking water, maybe insufficent food, and rivers where streets are now.

I would prefer one of the other options for funding a multi-purpose public building considered in that 2015 pamphlet.* Given that that is true, I will vote "no." Enough "no"s might send the Commission back to the drawing table.

*3. A third option would be to sell some of the City’s surplus land holdings.

A more efficient layout of City Hall would make some of this land available for sale. Land housing the City Hall complex is estimated to be worth $15-20 million depending on the commercial use. The vacant City property adjacent to the Post Office would be worth more if it were upzoned. The City also owns a parking lot in the downtown area. The City could sell some of its underutilized properties to finance a new City Hall, Police Station, and Library. By using City-owned land more efficiently, a new City Hall / Police Station / Library complex can create surplus land that can be sold or leased to the private sector and generate sufficient funds to cover most of the cost of new construction. Because of energy efficiency, reduced maintenance costs, and additions to the commercial property tax base, the project would immediately be revenue positive to the City, increasingly so over the long term. [Notice: this map does not include Jean Willis park as a surplus land holding.]

Keep safe, stay healthy.