Chicago billionaire donates $5 million toward Miami’s Underline park project
The Chicago hedge-fund billionaire who last month bought the last privately owned first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution is splurging on something else: The Underline, the 10-mile linear park and urban trail now under construction beneath Miami’s elevated Metrorail line.
CItadel CEO Kenneth Griffin, an art patron and philanthropist who supports a broad range of causes, has made a $5 million gift to the ambitious project, overseen by a nonprofit group and Miami-Dade County.
Griffin’s donation will seed an endowment to support long-range maintenance of the paved cycling and walking trails running the full length of the new park, said Meg Daly, founder of Friends of the Underline. Under its agreement with the county, the nonprofit group must raise $3 million a year to ensure proper maintenance of the $140 million park once it’s fully open in 2025. Daly said the Friends’ goal for the endowment is $35 million.
The Underline, Miami’s answer to New York’s High Line, will run from Brickell and the Miami River to the Dadeland South Metro station. Work on The Underline’s second section, which extends more than two miles from Brickell to the edge of Coconut Grove, began in September. The first half-mile section, running south from the river, opened in February. Work on the third and final segment is expected to start next year.
The Griffin gift announcement, which came Monday during a delayed ceremonial groundbreaking for the Underline’s second segment, marks the launch of the group’s fundraising effort for the endowment, Daly said. She said she hopes others will emulate Griffin’s donation.
“It’s saying that public spaces need to be supported privately, and not just publicly,” Daly said of Griffin’s gift. “We have got to move on the private partnership side. We’re now really trying to focus on catalytic giving.”
Griffin is a Florida native who maintains ties to the state and has a home in Miami Beach. Citadel has been looking to expand to Miami, where it’s hiring and searching for office space.
Earlier this year, Griffin made a $5 million gift to help launch Miami Connect, a $30 million effort to provide as many as 100,000 Miami-Dade County households with free high-speed internet. Griffin also has done significant political giving to Florida’s sitting U.S. senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Griffin also has a track record of supporting urban trails in Chicago, his primary home since 1989.
Last year, he gave $4.75 million for repairs of the bicycle and pedestrian paths along Chicago’s famed Lakefront Trail, damaged by storms and erosion. In 2016, Griffin gave $12 million to the Chicago Park District to improve safety along the 18-mile trail by creating separated lanes for foot and wheeled traffic.
In November, Griffin secured ownership of a rare copy of the Constitution — one of 13 printed originals still in existence — by outbidding a group of cryptocurrency investors. His winning $43.2 million bid set a record for the most money paid at auction for a printed text. Griffin has promised to make the document available for viewing by the public.
“The Underline brings together the best of Miami, with spaces for families and visitors to enjoy the outdoors and engage with the arts year round,” Griffin said in a statement released by The Underline. “This revitalizing project is an example of the opportunities that public-private partnerships can unlock to enrich our communities.”
