Miami Freedom Park

Current Site: the 170-acre site currently contains:

Melreese Golf Course - a fee-based 18-hole  public golf course

• Driving range- fee-based facility along NW 37th Avenue

• Clubhouse and maintenance facilities (to remain)

Contaminated soils with landfill debris and arsenic which makes it unsuitable for more intensive uses.

• Landfill with multiple contaminants

• Thin soil cover contaminated with arsenic

 Proposed Site

Miami Freedom Park – 58-acre public park

• Connections to Grapeland Water Park and baseball fields

• 1- mile wellness loop

• Additional connections to neighborhood 

Inter Miami Plaza

• Tree-lined promenade containing art installation and leading to the retail village

• Mixed-use open space for gatherings

Soccer Stadium: +/- 9.7-acre facility primarily serving Inter Miami Football Club

Retail village: +/- 31.4-acre complex connecting south plaza to the stadium and linking the public park to the Athletic Field complex.

Athletic Field Complex: +/- 20 acre

Tech hub: +/- 11.3-acre complex of hotels and offices on the northeast side of the site.

City of Miami Administrative Building: +/- 2 acre

Pedestrian Cross-walks for the surrounding neighborhood

Cleaned and capped soils (130 acres will be environmentally remediated) 

• Capped with clean soil
• Building sites cover and contain other contaminated soils
• Drainage diverted around pollution to improve aquifer recharge

To redevelop the site, two applications have been submitted. A Comprehensive Plan Amendment and a Special Area Plan would amend the regulations that govern how the site may be developed. The City of Miami Planning Department is responsible for administering and reviewing proposed changes. Below is a brief summary of each application:

Comprehensive Plan Amendment - The proposed Future Land Use Map change is for approximately 22 acres of the site from Public Parks & Recreation to Major Institutional and Restricted Commercial designations. 

• Changes the Future Land Use designation for approximately 22 acres of the property at 1400 NW 37 Avenue from “Public Parks & Recreation” to “Major Institutional, Public Facilities, Transportation, & Utilities” (“MIPFTU”, containing approximately 12.57 acres) and “Restricted Commercial” (containing approximately 10.34 acres). The “MIPFTU” portion would accommodate a new soccer stadium and the “Restricted Commercial” portion would accommodate office and hotel development. The full description of these designations can be found in the Miami Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan, within the “Interpretation of the 2020 Future Land Use Map”.
• Concurrency review ensures that City and County services can meet the needs of new development. Levels-of-Service for Parks, Recreation, & Open Space and Transportation are particularly important with regard to this proposed amendment:
• Park access
  • Parks, Recreation, & Open Space Policy PR-1.1.4: Level of Service aims to provide a municipally-owned park within a 10-minute walk of 72% of the City’s residents.
• Transportation – a detailed traffic study is being reviewed by the Office of Capital Improvements
• No-Net-Loss of Public Park Land
  • Parks, Recreation, & Open Space Policy PR-2.1.1 establishes the City’s no-net-loss policy on public park land. This requires any land converted away from public park use to be replaced.

Special Area Plan - Encompasses the entire property, requesting changes to certain Miami 21 Zoning regulations; as well as, changes to the zoning Transect for the same 22 acres of the site from CS Civic Space Zone to CI Civic Institutional and T6-8 Urban Core Transect Zone.

• The Special Area Plan overlay will encompass the entire 73-acre property at 1400 NW 37 Avenue. It will change the underlying zoning designation for approximately 22 of the acres from “CS” Civic Space Zone to “CI” Civic Institutional Zone and “T6-8” Urban Core Transect Zone. The “CI” portion would accommodate the proposed soccer stadium, and the “T6-8” portion would accommodate the proposed office and hotel development. The remaining approximately 53 acres zoned “CS” would accommodate the proposed Soccer Village retail and athletic fields.

• The Special Area Plan application is accompanied by the following documents which will guide redevelopment of the site:

• Regulating Plan – development standards that are specific to the project. While the project is required to meet the intent of the Miami 21 Zoning Code, the Special Area Plan process affords flexibility in how the site is designed and developed so as to result in higher or specialized building, streetscape, and open space designs.

• Concept Book – Plans, diagrams, and renderings illustrating the development standards of the Regulating Plan.

• In reviewing the Regulating Plan and Concept Book, the Planning Department will consider the following:

• SAP criteria outlined in Article 3, Section 3.9 of the Miami 21 code

• Goals, Objectives, & Policies of the Miami Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan

• Urban design compatibility

• Building heights that are compatible with the scale of the surrounding neighborhood and create proper transitions between adjacent residential areas.

• Streetscape design that is integrated with surrounding area

• Accessibility

• Connections that cater to multiple modes of transportation including pedestrians, bicycles, mass transit, and vehicles.

• Uses that are accessible to and serve the surrounding neighborhood and City

• Traffic and Circulation

While dates are to be decided, the sequence of meetings and opportunities for public participation is as follows:

 Submit a Public Records Request for Miami Freedom Park documents 

 Answer a Miami Freedom Park Survey