HEAT ARENA GETS FINAL APPROVAL; CONTROL REMAINS A QUESTION

          The Metro-Dade Commission approved the financing
     package that would keep the Heat "playing in downtown
     Miami," according to Don Finefrock of the MIAMI HERALD.  The
     county will pay the team $235M over 30 years from a 6% hotel
     tax to cover operating costs at the new arena, and will
     spend an additional $5M on interest and management fees
     (MIAMI HERALD, 4/11).  In Ft. Lauderdale, Larry Lebowitz
     writes that the approval allows the Heat and its financial
     advisers to "begin marketing" $228M in private bonds to
     build the arena.  Lebowitz notes that the package "is still
     fraught with questions, the largest of which is who will
     control the site."  The county wants to buy or lease the
     parcel from the city of Miami and "was initially preparing"
     a $75M offer.  But yesterday, the Miami City Commission
     voted to "demand no less than" $121M for the site (Ft.
     Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 4/11).