No more delays: Fort Lauderdale may build park long promised by Inter Miami and David Beckham

FORT LAUDERDALE — It was a deal of a lifetime, served up by soccer legend David Beckham and his partners.

Fort Lauderdale would get a 20-acre park and a world-class soccer complex on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium. The new $170 million stadium was built in record time, but Fort Lauderdale residents are still waiting on a park that was supposed to open a year ago.

Today, two key questions loom: Who will build the park and when will it open? No one has answers. Not yet anyway.

Here’s the current situation: Negotiations have deadlocked and now a mediator is being called on to iron out the conflict. But the city might build the park on its own and send Inter Miami the bill.

A third party might be the only way to get both sides to come to a meeting of the minds, Inter Miami Vice President and lead counsel Pablo Alvarez said last week during a heated exchange with Commissioner John Herbst, who wants the park built by the end of the year and says the city will do it if Inter Miami won’t.

“We’re partners with the city,” Alvarez said at one point during last week’s City Hall meeting. “We intend to work this out with the city. All we’re trying to do is find an equitable solution.”

Cars line up outside DRV PINK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale for Inter Miami's match against Montréal on Feb. 25, 2023. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Herbst, who challenged Alvarez on several points, has been meeting with Inter Miami officials to see what it will take to get the park built. Because the stadium and future park site are in his district, Herbst took on the role with the blessing of his colleagues.

So far, the behind-the-scenes meetings have hit a roadblock, both sides say.

Inter Miami officials want the city to waive $1.3 million in building fees and reimburse the organization $6 million in demolition costs for removing the old Lockhart Stadium — a demand fiercely opposed by Herbst.

Nowhere in the comprehensive agreement does it say the city has to pay demolition costs or waive building permit fees, Herbst said.

[ RELATED: Fort Lauderdale still waiting on David Beckham and Inter Miami to deliver promised park ]

Alvarez argued that Inter Miami built the stadium but the city owns it, so should waive any building permit fees.

Herbst fired back: “$1.3 million dollars are owed to the city. I think we need to get payment on those items. The Panthers at War Memorial paid their building permit fees. The pickleball courts that we just approved [at Snyder Park], they’re going to pay their building permit fees.”

Herbst, a CPA and financial expert in governmental accounting, spent 16 years as Fort Lauderdale’s city auditor before winning a crowded commission race in November.

In 2019, he watched from the sidelines as David Beckham and his partners made a deal with the commission to build a world-class stadium on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium northwest of Interstate 95 and Commercial Boulevard.

In return, the city agreed to lease the land to Inter Miami for 50 years, collecting $1 a year in rent.

A long promised park is being used as overflow parking at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. Commissioner John Herbst, fed up with delays, wants the city to build the park on its own. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

“I was not involved in negotiating the deal,” Herbst said. “Auditors do not negotiate deals. I don’t recall if I commented on the deal terms at the time. I thought it was a very bad deal, but they were so gung-ho on getting David Beckham to come to town.”

Eventually, the team will play at a new stadium that will be built in Miami, but that’s at least three years away. Even when they move, Inter Miami will keep the Fort Lauderdale site as its corporate headquarters.

The DRV PNK stadium opened in March 2020, right around when the pandemic hit.

But Fort Lauderdale is still waiting on Beckham and his partners to build a park on the vacant 20 acres south of the 18,000-seat complex.

For now, the team has been using the land south of the stadium as an overflow parking lot on game day.

Fort Lauderdale collects a fee from Inter Miami for that space: $6 for the first 600 vehicles and $8 for each vehicle beyond that. Last year, the city collected $185,000 from Inter Miami in parking fees for that location, Fort Lauderdale officials say.

Fort Lauderdale charges $11 per car for the use of a paved parking lot nearby. The city collected $90,000 in fees from Inter Miami last year for that lot.

“We’re charging them to park at both,” Herbst said. “They charge people $25 to park. And we charge them around $10. So they are making money on it.”

[ RELATED: Broken promise? Beckham soccer stadium deal called for a park. It’s still waiting to be built. ]

Under the deal the city made with Inter Miami, Fort Lauderdale does have the option of building the park at the expense of Miami Beckham United.

But even that’s become a sticking point.

At last week’s commission conference meeting, Alvarez reminded commissioners they have not even voted on the park design yet.

“The city has to agree as to what they want and vote on it,” he said. Then both parties need to figure out who pays for what, he added.

A conceptual design crafted by the city two years ago includes a community center and other features not included in the park amenities detailed in the comprehensive agreement, Alvarez said.

“To the extent you want [extra amenities], we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do, what you’re going to do.”

Fans cheer as Inter Miami plays Barcelona at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on July 19, 2022. (John McCall /South Florida Sun Sentinel)

In prior discussions, the commission has made it clear the city plans to use parks bond money to foot the bill for the community center, 16 pickleball courts and other amenities not listed in the comprehensive agreement.

Herbst made that point again last week.

“Certainly I would not expect Inter Miami to pay for anything that’s not in the comprehensive agreement,” he told Alvarez from the dais. “My goal is always to stick within the four corners of the agreement. We will pay for those things that are not covered under the agreement. And you will pay for those things that are covered under the agreement.”

Alvarez told the commission certain agreements were made during negotiations in 2019, but not all made it into the written contract. One key concession made by the former city manager was to waive the building permit fees, Alvarez said.

[ RELATED: Beckham soccer stadium promised a park. Time to build it, Fort Lauderdale says as deadline nears. ]

Mayor Dean Trantalis said he’d heard about that but found no mention of it in the contract. He then suggested the city turn to a mediator to help iron out the conflicts.

“Maybe mediation is the way to go,” the mayor said. “I think we should finally get this resolved one way or the other. I want to get this done. We need to move this thing forward.”

Herbst noted the city can take matters into its own hands.

“We actually have a pathway to move forward,” he said. “The city can build the park. We can work out the dollars later. We can do this on our own.”

Following Herbst’s lead, the commission directed City Manager Greg Chavarria to issue a task order for the city’s consultant AECOM to develop a design plan and cost estimate for the park.

“We can build the park and bill them for it,” Herbst told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I have no intentions of waiting on mediation. If we haven’t come to an agreement with them in the next two months, I intend to move forward with building the park. We’ll issue an RFP [request for proposal]. We’ll hire a contractor. We’ll build it ourselves.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan