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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVol. I. Sec. A.1. Letter of IntentHolland,,,:', Knight February 6, 2009 VIA HAND DELIVERY Ms. Ana Gelabert-Sanchez, Director City of Miami Planning and Zoning Department 444 S.W. 2"d Avenue Miami, Florida 33130 Tel 305 374 8500 Fax 305 789 7799 Holland & Knight LLP 701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 3000 Miami, FL 33131-2847 www.hktaw.com Ines Marrero- Priegues 305 789 7776 joseph.goldstein@hklaw.com Re: Application by the City of Miami for a Major Use Special Permit for Miami Ballpark at the Site of the Former Orange Bowl. Dear Ms. Gelabert-Sanchez: This letter of intent accompanies the application by the City of Miami (the "City") for a Major Use Special Permit (MUSP) for the Miami Ballpark, a major sports facility, pursuant to Section 401 of Zoning Ordinance 11000.1 As you may be aware, this MUSP application is the culmination of years of considerable effort, preparation and analysis performed by the City, Miami -Dade County, Marlin Stadium Developers, LLC (the "MSD"), numerous community leaders and advocates, and various architects, consultants and experts with the universal goal of finding a suitable home for Major League Baseball and bringing the Florida Marlins Baseball Club (the "Marlins") and a state-of-the-art major sports facility to the City of Miami. I. Location and Background The future Miami Ballpark is proposed to be located on the site of the former Orange Bowl Stadium, on a 39.12 net acre parcel of land that is substantially owned by the City of Miami, with a small portion owned by Miami -Dade County (the "Property"), and which is generally located between N.W. 7th Street and N.W. 3'd Street and between N.W. 13th Avenue and N.W. 17t" Avenue within the municipal boundaries of the City: The Property, which is situated immediately south of State Road 836, is within walking distance of the Civic Center/Health District and Culmer Metrorail Stations, proximate to the Miami International Airport and approximately two miles west of Downtown Miami. A legal description and survey of the Property is provided as part of the MUSP package. The Property has long been used as a major sports and recreation facility. The former Orange Bowl Stadium was the home of the Miami Dolphins up until 1986, when the team relocated to the then newly -constructed Joe Robbie Stadium (now Dolphin Stadium) in north - central Miami -Dade County. Up until the 2008 football season, the Orange Bowl was the home ` In accordance with the section 4.07 of the Baseball Stadium Agreement, the information and documentation provided within this MUSP application have been compiled by the MSD as Developer/Owner for the benefit of the City of Miami as Applicant/Owner and Miami -Dade County as Owner, acting in their proprietary capacities. Ms. Ana Gelabert-Sanchez February 6, 2009 Page 2 of the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. The Orange Bowl Stadium had been, until very recently, used for numerous events, including various entertainment events (notably music concerts), public gatherings and sporting contests. Interestingly, in addition to the Dolphins and the Hurricanes, numerous concerts and special events, the Property was the also the home of professional baseball, hosting the Miami Sun Sox, a minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodger organization, during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Orange Bowl was an ever evolving facility; its development never fully formed. The Orange Bowl was dedicated on December 10, 1937 and originally had a seating capacity for 23,330 spectators. The first major event at the Orange Bowl featured a college football game between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Nebraska. The Orange Bowl was subsequently expanded on numerous other occasions, notably as follows: (i) 1944, increasing capacity to 35,030 seats; (ii) 1947, adding 24,548 seats (totaling 59,578 seats); (iii) 1950, adding an additional 4,974 seats; (iv) in 1953, adding 2,577 seats; (v) in 1955, adding 9,157 seats; and (vi) during the 1960s filling the west end zone and both the upper and lower deck with additional seats. Based on information obtained from the City of Miami Public Works Department files, capacity had been raised to 80,010 by 1973, with a proposed further expansion to 81,875 seats. Seating capacity was reduced to 75,500 seats during the 1970s and to 72,733 to accommodate soccer for the 1996 Olympics. However, as an ongoing practice the City and, particularly, the University of Miami installed and maintained bleachers in the east end zone, establishing the total fixed seating capacity of the Orange Bowl at 81,875 spectators until its recent demolition. Thus, the Orange Bowl facility had the capacity to accommodate a significant level of attendance, at all tunes, for several decades. As part of the Orange Bowl facility, the Property also continuously featured approximately 5,000 on-site parking spaces and those uses which are generally associated with (and integral to) the attraction events, such as concessions, retail sales, restaurants, administrative and sales offices, and other similar uses. Therefore, since 1937, the Property has served as a single attraction and recreational facility with ancillary commercial uses, of which the up to 81,875 seat stadium was the focal point.2 Up until the time that the City reached the decision to proceed with the demolition and redevelopment of the Property with the Miami Ballpark, the City had spent considerable financial and other resources on analyzing opportunities to expand, modify and promote the original Orange Bowl and on physical renovations. The Property is designated "Major Institutional, Public Facilities, Transportation and Utilities" on the City of Miami Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan Land Use Plan Map and is zoned "G/I" Govenunent/Institutional" on the City's Official Zoning Atlas. Both the approved land use and zoning designations recognize the longstanding use of this Property and allow the development of the proposed Project, subject to the approval of a MUSP and other special permits and waivers. The surrounding neighborhood generally consists of a fairly random mix of multi -story residential and commercial uses along N.W. 7t" Street, N.W. 3`a Street — extending north to SR 2 It should be noted that on February 15, 2008 the Florida Department of Community Affairs issued a Binding Letter of Interpretation of Vested Rights (BLIVR) which determined that that the Orange Bowl Property had a vested development project featuring an 80,010 seat, 5,000 parking space attraction facility (BLIVR-11-2007- 005). Ms. Ana Gelabert-Sanchez February 6, 2009 Page 3 836 and south to Flagler Street. Because the entire area was well integrated into the events taking place at the Orange Bowl, these surrounding areas are very accustomed to the presence of an attraction and have been extensively used during events for commercial activities and parking. By some estimates, the surrounding areas have accommodated the parking of up to 20,000 vehicles during events. It should be highlighted that the Property is located within a State of Florida -designated Enterprise Zone. Enterprise Zones are economically disadvantaged areas characterized by high rates of unemployment among area residents. They are also characterized by low median incomes due to unemployment rates that are generally higher than the rest of the community and by "underemployment," even for those who have the good fortune to be employed. Enterprise Zones are established and formally designated to enable government to provide incentives to facilitate job growth in those areas. This Project will clearly accomplish that important goal. According to the Washington Economic Group, this Project will provide over 2,700 direct and indirect, full-time/recurring jobs that can address the long term employment needs of the neighboring community. 11. Proposed Plan for Re -Development The City, Miami -Dade County and the Marlins have engaged in extensive negotiations to find a suitable home for Major League Baseball in South Florida. The parties are proposing to replace the former major sports facility with a beautiful, new, state-of-the-art, retractable roofed baseball park (including customary concessions, interactive areas, offices and training spaces) to accommodate approximately 37,000 spectators, framed by a plaza and four parking structures (with approximately 4,840 spaces) and six grass surface parking lots (with capacity for approximately 969 spaces), and up to 61,678 square feet of ancillary and accessory commercial/retail space and 96 residential housing units located within the parking structures. The goal is to create an event culture in this area, providing interactive entertainment, recreation and relaxation. The plaza, which is designed to highlight South Florida's features, is intended to be a daily gathering place for area residents and, more significantly, an enhancement to the baseball and other event attendees who will come to the facility. The site, context and design plans provided within this MUSP application show an extraordinarily designed and iconic, yet highly functional, facility that will provide baseball fans, other users of the facility and the residents of the City of Miami and Miami -Dade County with a truly enjoyable entertainment destination. The Project design team includes some of the best talent in the country and features the nation's leading stadium designer. The plans clearly reflect a sensitivity to the surrounding neighborhood. For example, the retail and residential liner units located along the ground floors of the parking structures are intended to both enliven the streetscape and to provide a soft edge to the Project. The heights of the garages provide a step up to the ballpark. This sensitivity to the neighborhood was, notably, absent when the site was occupied by the monolithic, 81,875 seat, Orange Bowl. The design of the ballpark and architecture have paid close attention, even at this preliminary phase, to energy Ms. Ana Gelabert-Sanchez February 6, 2009 Page 4 efficiency and sustainability. In fact, it is the goal of the City and MSD to attain LEED Silver certification for the facility, making it potentially the first LEED Silver certified retractable roof ballpark in the United States. In order to reach this stage of the process, the design of the facility received and was revised to address extensive comments from the City's Internal Design Review staff (which commented on the plans five different times), Large Scale Committee and the Urban Development Review Board. As a result of hard work and talent of the assembled design team and the City's exacting MUSP prefiling phase review, the City and MSD submit that the proposed Project will be an icon for the City of Miami. In addition to the plans, the following MUSP application contains extensive support documentation which outlines the economic and other benefits of the Project and addresses the impacts of the Project upon the area's infrastructure and traffic, housing and the environment, as well as promoting employment for local workers and addressing emergency preparedness. III. Conclusion The Project will provide an iconic, LEED certified, structure for the City, replacing a former icon. As demonstrated by the enclosed support documentation, the area's infrastructure, which supported the 81,875 seat Orange Bowl, can clearly sustain this much smaller, 37,000 seat facility, with ancillary uses. Most importantly, the Project will provide significant economic benefits to an area that is clearly in need. The approximately thirty-three month construction phase of the Project is anticipated by the Washington Economic Group to create 4,774 direct jobs and to induce another 3,007 indirect jobs within the community. Of those development phase opportunities, over 4,500 of the jobs will be in construction, at a time when such construction - related employment is sorely needed. The design of the project is both sensitive to and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood and will provide the area with a new sense of place and community. For these reasons and the numerous other justifications discussed in the following MUSP application and support documentation, we urge your favorable review and recommendation of the application, as well as approval by the Planning Advisory Board and City Commission. As always, we are available to discuss any questions you might have. Thank you for your attention to this important application. Respectfully, Ines Marrero- riegues cc: Mr. Robert Fenton Mr. Ray Baker Mr. Claude Delorme Mr. Jeff King Derek Jackson, Esq. Joseph G. Goldstein, Esq. # 6062097_0