Is the Olympia Theater giveaway a done deal? Miami officials sure act like it

Miami Herald

16-07-2025

Monday night, the city of Miami held the first of three so-called 'community meetings' to unveil its backroom deal with Academica, the politically connected charter school giant poised to take over the historic Olympia Theater.
What unfolded wasn't a forum — it was a coronation, a staged performance in which the public was cast as silent observers.
From the outset, it was clear: This was not a conversation. It was a declaration. City officials and Academica executives spoke with the entitlement of a done deal. No artistic vision. No competitive process. No public mandate. Just the quiet conversion of Miami's most iconic cultural landmark into a taxpayer-funded playground for a charter empire.
Under Gov. Ron DeSantis's budget, Florida charter schools receive $9,130 in public funds for each enrolled student. Academica's proposed SLAM school would enroll over 1,000 students — more than $9 million a year handed to a private operator occupying a city-owned theater rent-free.
Yet they claim the plan uses 'zero public funding.'
Public assets are very much in play. The city owns the air rights to the Olympia — undeveloped vertical space valued in the tens of millions of dollars. These rights exist because the building is historically protected and can't be replaced with luxury towers.
Under city code, these Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) can only be sold to fund restoration of the building itself. Public dollars should and must be spent on the Olympia. To claim otherwise is false.
Public comment at the meeting was a farce. Questions were screened, answers vague and the presentation bloated with self-congratulation. One attendee asked about traffic — thousands of students being dropped off daily in a congested downtown core. Officials waved it off with talk of 'public transit.' As if Miami's transit system is on par with New York's. It's not.
When asked why the deal was being rushed, Academica said they needed to get it done before the school year starts. Never mind that renovations haven't begun and won't be completed for over a year. The rush isn't about students. It's about locking down the property before political terms expire and scrutiny intensifies.
The city manager pointed to a failed 2022 RFP (Request for Proposal) as justification, claiming no serious proposals were received. What he didn't say: The RFP was designed to fail. It demanded a $40 million restoration at the proposer's sole expense — plus rent — on a building they would never own. Unsurprisingly, no one applied.
Now compare that to what Academica gets: full control, no rent, no cultural obligations and millions in state funding. Had those terms been offered transparently, developers would have lined up around the block.
In fact, I submitted a serious proposal with preservation architect Richard Heisenbottle. We offered a boutique hotel, jazz club, rooftop speakeasy and a programming team with experience at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and New York City Center. No handouts — just vision, stewardship, and revenue. The city never replied.
Academica's proposed 'Theater Programming Plan' includes LED walls, a SiriusXM affiliate, Verizon Innovation Lab and Telemundo Academy. It's not a vision for a historic landmark. It's a sandbox for vocational branding.
For 16 years, the city has starved the Olympia — not for lack of funds or ideas, but for lack of will. Now, with months left in office, they're handing it off — not to cultural stewards, but to a for-profit school chain.
This is not redevelopment. It's abandonment wrapped in the language of progress. The Olympia Theater is not a vacant lot. It is Miami's Carnegie Hall. Its fate should not be decided behind closed doors. It demands vision, transparency and public trust.
The outcome of these public meetings should be the realization that the only ethical way forward is a transparent procurement process — one that is fair to all interested parties and that maintains city ownership of one of its most treasured assets.
Orlando Alonso is a Cuban-American concert pianist, conductor and arts entrepreneur. He is leading a civic coalition to preserve and reimagine the historic Olympia Theater as a world-class cultural center.