David Beckham appears "ready to buy the three acres needed to complete" his Miami MLS stadium site, according to a front-page piece by Douglas Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. Miami-Dade County officials "want to get the deal approved quickly, and are expected to ask for a final vote from Miami-Dade commissioners next month after a public meeting with Overtown residents on the stadium plan." Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez was "eager to get the 13-member county commission to approve" the $9M deal next week. However, his office "backed off that plan" after county commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who is representing the stadium site in Overtown, "objected to a vote before neighborhood residents have a chance to be heard." With the recent investment from Dodgers co-Owner Todd Boehly, sources said that Beckham's reps have "jump-started county talks and want a quick vote of approval." Beckham "agreed to pay market rate for the property, and an appraisal pegged the land value" at $9M. It is currently "used as a depot for county sewage trucks." Gimenez is using the state’s economic-development law to "sell the land in a no-bid deal, touting the 25,000-seat stadium as a boon to the local economy." Hanks notes even with the county land, the Beckham group "still must win approval from Miami for the zoning changes needed to build the stadium" (MIAMI HERALD, 5/10).
