This November 2026, Vote NO on the Virginia Key Marina Lease
Our marinas on Virginia Key – the Rickenbacker Marina and the Marine Stadium Marina – are public, city-owned waterfront. They belong to the people of Miami. On November 3, City of Miami voters will be asked to hand them over to a private development group for as long as 75 years. Save Our Marina is urging every City of Miami voter to vote NO.
What’s actually on the ballot
The referendum would approve a long-term lease of roughly 27.6 acres of city-owned waterfront to Virginia Key LLC – a development group that includes Dallas-based Suntex Marinas, a large out-of-state marina company, partnered with RCI Marine Group. The lease runs an initial 45 years, with two 15-year renewal options that can stretch it to 75 years.
In exchange, the city would receive a minimum of about $2.2 million a year plus a share of revenue, and the developers would invest around $80 million to rebuild the marinas with new boat storage, restaurants, retail, and parking. This is a bad deal.
Three-quarters of a century is a very long time to lock up some of the most valuable public waterfront in Miami – especially on terms that were first drawn up years ago.
A court forced the city’s hand
Here’s what most people don’t realize: the city didn’t put this deal on the ballot because it thinks it’s a good one. A judge ordered it to. After years of litigation over how the marina contract was awarded, a 2023 court ruling – later upheld on appeal – required the city to send this proposal to voters. City officials were even warned that continued delay could expose them to legal consequences.
In other words, the City of Miami was effectively strong-armed into advancing a deal it never enthusiastically supported. That is not how a good deal for the public usually gets made.
Even the City Commission isn’t sold
You don’t have to take our word for it. When the Commission voted to place this on the ballot, four of the five commissioners openly criticized the deal, warning that its financial terms were negotiated as much as a decade ago and may no longer reflect what this waterfront is worth today. One commissioner flatly called it “a bad deal for the city.”
They voted yes only because a court left them little choice – not because they believe it’s fair to taxpayers. When the very officials who have to approve a deal are telling you it’s outdated and bad for the city, that should tell you something.
A decade-old deal that shortchanges residents
The terms of this lease trace back to proposals from 2015 and 2017. Miami’s waterfront values have climbed dramatically since then. Both the marina’s longtime local operator and members of the Commission have described the rent the city would collect as outdated and below today’s market.
Locking in years-old numbers for up to 75 years means the city – and its residents – could be leaving real money on the table for decades, with no ability to renegotiate. And once it’s leased, it’s gone. For up to three generations, your kids and grand kids & residents lose their say over how this waterfront is run, what it costs to use, and who it serves.
A redevelopment built to maximize private revenue raises a fair question every Miami boater and beachgoer should ask: will working families and longtime users still be able to afford access to their own public waterfront?
We’ve been here before
Miami voters have already weighed in on locking up this waterfront. In 2021, residents went to the polls and rejected a 75-year lease of these very marinas. The public said no then – and there’s no reason to say yes now to a deal that gives the city even less, on even older terms.
A NO vote doesn’t end anything. It simply sends the city back to the table to seek a fair, competitive, current-market deal for public land that belongs to all of us.
What you can do
- Vote NO on the Virginia Key marina lease – November 3.
- Vote early or by mail. Request your mail ballot and return it as soon as it arrives.
- Sign up to stay informed and help reach your neighbors.
- Spread the word. Only voters who live inside the City of Miami can vote on this – so every City of Miami voter you reach matters.
Our marinas are public. Our waterfront is public. Let’s keep it that way.
Save Our Marinas – Vote NO on November 3.