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Miami Herald
03-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Developers agreed to terms of Miami mega mall deal. Now they want to change it
For the unsuspecting taxpayer, the different messages coming from Miami-Dade County's elected officials couldn't sound more dissonant: You have the mayor calling for budget cuts and warning about times of financial austerity. Then you have a commissioner proposing to allow property tax dollars to be used to help develop a mega mall. The developers of American Dream Miami, planned near Hialeah, understood the county's approval of the project in 2018 also came with a subsidy ban on the planned retail theme park. Now that the project is at least five years behind schedule — and Miami-Dade County has sued over the delays — there's a proposal to water down that ban. Developer Triple Five is also in court with a Miami Lakes developer over control of land located at Florida's Turnpike and Interstate 75. Asking for the county's help sounds like a Hail Mary to push through a project that's looking less feasible by the minute. Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez's proposal would allow the county to divert property taxes to cover about $60 million in local road construction and other infrastructure costs that otherwise would be the developers' responsibility, the Herald reported. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava supported the item as a way to expedite the construction of roadways in the area even if the mega mall doesn't get built. The proposal was placed on the County Commission's Tuesday agenda at the last minute but a vote was deferred to mid July. Some commissioners balked at the argument put forward by Bermudez linking the approval of his subsidy-cap legislation to another vote that was also on the agenda to accept $5 million from the developer to settle the county's lawsuit. The latter was also postponed. Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez said it was a 'bad look' that 'you guys are saying you'll only come to this agreement if we get this,' the Herald reported. Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said he opposes letting Triple Five tap into property taxes to offset its development costs, saying, 'I don't see how that's a good deal for the people.' It is not. Bermudez called his legislation 'an opportunity to right a wrong,' the Herald reported. That's because some of South Florida's largest malls successfully lobbied the commission to impose the subsidy ban on American Dream when it was approved. Miguel Díaz de la Portilla, a Triple Five lobbyist and former county commissioner, equated that to 'interference from some mall owners who don't want competition.' Díaz de la Portilla said the company could attract $350 million in road construction dollars to Northwest Miami-Dade if it can tap into county money first. We don't disagree entirely with Bermudez and Díaz de la Portilla. There's no doubt that the subsidy ban was a political move, at least in part, to stifle competition. Alas, in 2018, Triple Five agreed to cover the $60 million roadway costs or persuade state or local governments to fund them. It's hard not to read this latest move as a desperate attempt to change the terms of the deal, especially given Triple Five's legal and financial issues elsewhere. An American Dream mall opened on state-owned land in New Jersey in 2019 with help from more than $1 billion in state and local aid, according to Surrounding municipalities have sued, accusing the developer of owing a combined $13 million in negotiated payments to them since the mall's opening. Triple Five has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the mall didn't have to start making the payments because it hasn't reached 100% occupancy and so was not completely open. In March, a local judge rejected that argument, ruling in favor of one of the municipalities, reported. Miami-Dade County is under increased financial pressure from the drying up of pandemic federal funding and the costs associated with spinning off county departments such as police into independent offices. Levine Cava's administration says the county faces the worst budget shortfall since the 2008 Great Recession. With so many needs and an unpredictable next few budget years, is this the time to ask the county to allow a developer to access property tax dollars for a private project? The answer should be no. Click here to send the letter.
Miami Herald
02-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
American Dream Miami mega-mall will pay Miami-Dade $5M. But wants subsidy help, too
The stalled American Dream Miami mega-mall project may ask for property taxes to revive its fortunes. At a meeting Tuesday, some county commissioners balked at a proposal to lift a subsidy cap that was imposed on the retail theme park when a different commission approved the project in 2018. A vote to lift the subsidy ban was pushed to the board's next meeting on July 15. While lifting the ban wouldn't authorize the spending of any tax dollars on the $4 billion private project that's at least five years behind schedule, it would allow developer Triple Five to ask for county help funding about $60 million in nearby road construction and infrastructure costs. That could be a big boost for Triple Five, which hoped to reproduce its success with Minnesota's Mall of America in South Florida but is now mired in legal fights and delays. The American Dream project is so far behind schedule that it's facing a $5 million lawsuit from Miami-Dade over development delays. In 2018, Triple Five agreed to either cover the $60 million roadway costs or persuade state or local governments to fund the roadway improvements that are needed to connect the property with the nearby Florida's Turnpike, Interstate 75 and neighborhood roads on the vacant development site near Hialeah. Existing malls had pushed subsidy ban in Miami-Dade Some of South Florida's largest malls successfully lobbied county commissioners at the time to impose a subsidy ban on the project when the county originally approved the development. Triple Five called the ban unprecedented and unfair and says the restriction is making it harder to get Florida to build needed roads in the area. 'To me, we have an opportunity to right a wrong,' Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, the sponsor of the measure to lift the subsidy cap, said at Tuesday's meeting. 'It was a decision based on politics, not on what was best for Miami-Dade County.' Miami-Dade mostly relies on state dollars and permitting fees for road construction, while property taxes fund police, jails, transit and parks. On Tuesday, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she supported the Bermudez item as a way to accelerate construction of roadway improvements if the state won't pay for them — even if the mall never gets built. Bermudez said he had worked with the mayor's administration to refine the language of his legislation. 'I was personally persuaded that this really didn't have to do so much with the project as it has to do with the needs of the residents of the area,' Levine Cava told commissioners. 'We do not know what the developer plans to do with this property at this time. It could come back as housing or something else.' Miguel Díaz de la Portilla, a Triple Five lobbyist and former county commissioner, said Triple Five could lure about $350 million in state highway construction dollars to the Northwest Miami-Dade area if it could first tap county funds for some road construction. He called the subsidy ban an unprecedented restriction that came out of 'interference from some mall owners who don't want competition.' Property taxes could help cover development costs for the American Dream Miami project At Tuesday's meeting, Triple Five was hoping there would be a vote overturning the subsidy ban at the same time the commission endorsed Miami-Dade accepting $5 million from the developer to settle the county's lawsuit over the project's delays. The county sued Triple Five in April for missing its 2025 opening deadline and for failing to secure the required county approvals and permits by 2020, as was required under the 2018 development agreement reached with Miami-Dade. Levine Cava recommended that the commission approve a $5 million settlement of the suit, to be paid over four years with interest. The first $1 million would be due within 30 days, and all settlement money would go to offset the $53 million current shortfall in the county's transit budget. But the items lifting the subsidy cap and settling the lawsuit were added late to Tuesday's agenda, without the required public notice of four business days before the scheduled votes. The lateness allowed any commissioner to demand that the votes be delayed until the next meeting, and Commissioner René Garcia did so for the legislation lifting the subsidy cap. That prompted Bermudez, who sponsored both items, to say he didn't think the settlement would hold up without the subsidy-cap legislation passing as well. The suggestion of a link rankled Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez. 'I think it's a bad look,' he said. 'That you guys are saying you'll only come to this agreement if we get this.' Commissioner Kionne McGhee ended the debate by invoking the 'four-day rule' to push the settlement vote to the July 15 meeting as well. Triple Five had agreed to the $5 million penalty in 2015 as part of an agreement with Miami-Dade to purchase 83 acres of government land for the development site without having to go through the normal bidding process for the property. While settling the Miami-Dade suit would cost Triple Five $5 million, the potential to gain access to property-tax dollars to fund development costs could be worth far more for the developer. The Bermudez item would allow Triple Five to request a special taxing district around the project to divert an unknown portion of property taxes from the American Dream property to pay for transportation costs. Creating that district would require another vote of the commission. A 2015 economic study Triple Five filed with Miami-Dade in the early stages of the approval process predicted American Dream would pay more than $13 million a year in property taxes. Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said he would oppose letting Triple Five use property taxes to subsidize its own development costs. 'I don't see how that's a good deal for the people,' he said.
Miami Herald
01-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
The stalled American Dream Miami mega-mall could get a break on county tax subsidies
Last-minute legislation up for a vote Tuesday would allow the stalled American Dream Miami mega-mall to ask for subsidies from property taxes. A proposal by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez would water down a subsidy ban that was imposed seven years ago when the county approved plans for the retail theme park near Hialeah. Construction never began, and the development process is so stalled that developer Triple Five is now in court with both a once-allied developer and the county itself over delays. Bermudez's resolution mentions the county litigation but notes that relaxing the 2018 subsidy ban could 'provide greater flexibility related to the development' of American Dream. Bermudez was not immediately available for comment Monday. He first proposed the legislation last summer but pulled it before fellow commissioners had a chance to vote on it. The legislation wasn't listed on Tuesday's agenda when it became public last week. Now, Bermudez's item is on the part of the agenda reserved for legislation that's filed too late for the required public notice of four business days. Under County Commission rules, any commissioner could on Tuesday request a delay of the vote to the board's next meeting on July 15. Bermudez's proposed legislation would allow Miami-Dade to divert property taxes to cover about $60 million in local road construction and other infrastructure costs that otherwise would be the developers' responsibility. The legislation wouldn't directly authorize any subsidies for the project, but it would lift the restrictions that currently prevent American Dream from getting county dollars. Those restrictions were secured by rival malls when commissioners approved the development plan in 2018. Earlier this year, Miami-Dade sued Triple Five to collect a $5 million penalty because the project did not open on time this year and did not secure the needed building permits by 2020, as required under an original agreement in which the county sold some public land to the developers in a no-bid deal. The project sits near Hialeah, where Florida's Turnpike meets Interstate 75. Triple Five is also in court with the Graham Companies, the Miami Lakes developer that agreed to sell most of the land needed for the American Dream project. Triple Five owns Minnesota's Mall of America and had planned an even larger combination of shopping and entertainment in the Miami area. While the two developers were allied in winning approval of the project and an adjoining development by Graham, the alliance split after Triple Five delayed building in the area. Triple Five never finalized the purchase of the Graham land and now is suing to keep the potential land deal alive. Graham maintains that Triple Five no longer has a right to purchase the property.
Miami Herald
30-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
American Dream mega-mall sued by Miami-Dade over years of construction delays
Stalled and years behind schedule, the planned American Dream Miami mega-mall faces a new problem: a demand for $5 million from Miami-Dade County over missed development deadlines. Once billed by county leaders as a historic economic opportunity, the 175-acre project by the owner of Minnesota's Mall of America is now the subject of litigation by Miami-Dade over a broken agreement in which the mall's developer promised to have development permits in hand by 2020 and a grand opening this year. Neither happened, with the development site still vacant where Interstate 75 meets Florida's Turnpike north of Hialeah. There's also no hint of progress toward the slew of county permits and approvals needed to even start planning construction for the 6-million-square-foot retail theme park complex, according to Miami-Dade's lawsuit. In 2015, Miami-Dade arranged the sale of 82 acres of government land to American Dream Miami developer Triple Five in a no-bid transaction that included a $5 million penalty if the project wasn't on track for a 2025 opening. Instead, Triple Five subsidiary International Atlantic LLC hasn't even filed a site plan with the county, according to the suit, a situation Miami-Dade describes as a 'flagrant disregard of its contractual obligations.' In a statement, a Triple Five lawyer said the developer is making progress on other county requirements in the development process related to the construction of new state roads around the project site. Triple Five says it is using its influence and engineering studies to speed along state construction of a new network of off ramps and wider roads to allow higher traffic volume around the site. Eventually, developer fees from the project will go toward road construction, too. 'While we disagree with the county administration's interpretation of the matter, we are nonetheless working with the administration to resolve this disagreement amicably,' said Miguel Díaz de la Portilla, a Triple Five lawyer and lobbyist and a former county commissioner. Triple Five is already in court with another former ally over the delayed project. Last year, Triple Five sued the Graham Companies, the Miami Lakes developer that provided Triple Five with the bulk of the project site. The suit asked a judge to block the Graham Companies from canceling the original 2014 land deal, which the Graham Companies said was void after Triple Five failed to meet development deadlines. That litigation continues, with Graham refusing to let Triple Five close the original sale on the land, which was under contract but never finalized. 'As the County's lawsuit shows, International [Atlantic LLC] has made no significant progress,' a Graham lawyer, Scott Hiaasen, said in a statement Friday. American Dream Miami won near-unanimous support from Miami-Dade commissioners in 2018, along with a sister residential and commercial project by the Graham Companies next door. That project is also stalled, but Graham owns its development site without the development requirement that Triple Five had agreed to in acquiring real estate from Miami-Dade in 2015. Triple Five had a supporter in Miami-Dade's mayor at the time of the 2018 vote, Carlos Gimenez, whose administration negotiated the disputed land deal. The current mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, was a county commissioner in 2018. She cast the lone vote against approving the mega-mall project, citing traffic, the low-wage jobs another mall would bring, and concerns about water use at an attraction that planned both an indoor ski slope and an artificial lagoon deep enough for submarine rides. Triple Five executives funded a failed effort to oust her in the 2018 commission election, and she became mayor in 2020. Her administration sent Triple Five a March 6 letter demanding the $5 million payment, communication that was the prelude to the lawsuit. The letter states the deadline for applying for the county approvals needed for an opening this year was the spring of 2020. 'The County has found no evidence of [International Atlantic LLC] diligently applying for and pursuing all of the Necessary Approvals,' wrote Francesca de Quesada Covey, chief innovation and economic development officer under Levine Cava, in a letter to Díaz de la Portilla.
