Miami voters will again decide on future of Riverside Wharf project in downtown
Developers who want to build a $185 million hotel and restaurant complex on the Miami River need voter approval to build on land owned by the city.
It might sound like déjà vu because voters in 2016 approved a 50-year lease so the same developers — the only team to respond to a public bid — could build a nightlife complex there. Now, the same developers want to expand their plans and extend the lease by another 50 years, while the city wants a higher rent and bigger commitment from developers to invest in the project.
Voters will in August decide if private developers should be given a century-long lease to build and operate Riverside Wharf, a planned commercial center for the north bank of the Miami River on land west of Interstate 95.
Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously voted to hold a referendum during the Aug. 23 primary election. Under the city charter, voter approval is needed for a long-term lease of public land on waterfront property, and any changes to existing leases also need voters to sign off.
On the two-acre site, about three-quarters of an acre is city-owned. The Garcia family has run a commercial fishing operation there for decades, and next door, open-air nightlife venue The Wharf Miami has operated since 2017. The developers have said they want to have the Garcias in the new development operating a fish market and a raw bar.
Developers Alex Mantecon and Guillermo Vadell, partnered with Driftwood Capital, want to build 16,000 square feet of restaurants, an event hall, a nightclub and rooftop day club, in addition to a private marina with space for yachts. This development planned for public land would be connected to a 165-room luxury hotel built on privately own property next door. Developers debuted their updated vision in December.
Under the proposal that will go to voters, the developers would be required to invest at least $30 million in the development of the restaurant complex, build a new seawall and public riverfront promenade and pay 50% more in rent to the city. A city real estate administrator estimated the new annual rent could be a minimum of $330,000, based on a recent appraisal. The minimum rent approved in 2016 was $195,000.
Mantecon’s firm MV Real Estate Holdings is leading the development. On Tuesday, he told the Miami Herald that he’s talking to real estate investor Nitin Motwani about working together on the hotel side of the project.
In August, voters inside Miami city limits will be asked to answer yes or no to the following question on their ballot:
Shall Miami’s Charter be amended authorizing the City Commission, by 4/5ths Vote, to amend the existing Riverside Wharf lease, thereby increasing base rent by 50 percent or fair market rent, if greater, increasing private investment in the property from $7,000,000 To $30,000,000, extending the term by 50 years, and requiring that Tenant construct the project consistent with zoning, and resiliency requirements, and construct a new seawall and publicly accessible Riverwalk?
