The David Beckham-led group bringing Major League Soccer to Miami is targeting a centrally located PortMiami location for its new $200 million stadium, and they're hoping the release of the project's opulent plans will help make it happen.
The plans for the project, which includes an open-air stadium with up to 35,000 seats that features an undulating roof that provides sweeping views of downtown cityscapes, were unveiled Monday in Miami.
Confirming speculation that Beckham’s group would aim for a downtown stadium near the Biscayne Bay, the retired player’s real-estate advisor, John Alschuler, told The Miami Herald that he hopes releasing plans for the stadium would build support for project on a contested piece of the port’s Dodge Island.
There has been no date set for when the Beckham-owned team will start play, but it was reported that they are hoping the stadium will be ready by 2018 if approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission.
''We want a site that can feed off of the incredible energy that is developing downtown,'' Alschuler said. ''We believe we can contribute to that. We want to be the most significant asset we can be to the economy of South Florida create jobs, create tax revenue and contribute to the economic balance sheet of the Port of Miami.''
The group reportedly considered up to 30 locations for the stadium. The project renderings, a collaboration between the Miami-based Arquitectonica architectural firm and 360 Architecture, calls for a hotel, retail space, tiered plaza and a new park built on an unused draw bridge.
“When people think of Miami, they immediately think about being near or on the water," Beckham said in a statement. "I asked my team to develop ideas for a stadium that embraces the best of the destination. Even though we are in the early stages of building the franchise, I believe we have a vision that not only Miami would be proud of, but one that will resonate around the world.”
