After a four-year quest, David Beckham on Tuesday finally secured land to build a soccer stadium in Miami after county commissioners approved selling him three acres for $9 million.
“Yes, it has taken a while to get to this point,” said Commissioner Xavier Suarez. “But the community needs it.”
The 9-4 vote by Miami-Dade commissioners gives Beckham right to buy the remaining third of his planned nine-acre stadium site in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. A short walk from the Miami River, the two-block expanse would house a 25,000-seat soccer venue with an open roof and no parking garages.
Now Beckham must win approval from the city of Miami to actually build the privately financed venue. Among other hurdles, that process that will pit the retired soccer star against opposition from residents in the adjoining neighborhood of Spring Garden, who are warning of major disruption from Major League Soccer’s arrival.
Read more at our news partner The Miami Herald.
