Referendum 2 signs away 27.62 acres of public waterfront on Virginia Key — for up to 75 years — to an out-of-state operator backed by private equity. The marina isn't theirs to take. It's ours.
Vote NO on Referendum 2
NBC 6 South Florida
“How corporate landlords impact South Florida's housing market”
WLRN
“Highest in nation: 1 in 6 Miami homes sold to investors, crowding out traditional homebuyers”
Tampa Bay Times
“Florida homes owned by corporate investors: 117,000 — and counting”
The Melwani family has run Rickenbacker Marina since 1983 — Miami-based, Miami-owned, Miami-run, through every hurricane and every downturn.
Referendum 2 replaces them with a corporation headquartered 1,300 miles away, on terms written nine years ago, for longer than most of us will live. This isn't investment in Miami. It's a handoff of Miami — of Virginia Key, of the last public shoreline we still control.
The financial terms in this lease were set in 2017 and never updated. Since then your rent, your insurance, your groceries and your property taxes have all gone up. Under this deal, the operator pays yesterday's rate to run your waterfront — and by the City's own numbers, Miami collects less than it does today.
Rent frozen at 2017 values
Less revenue than the City earns now
Out-of-state operator, private-equity funded
Miami profits leave Florida
The tenant is Virginia Key LLC — a joint venture led by Suntex Marinas of Dallas, Texas, backed by private equity. The same class of investors buying up Florida homes and driving your housing costs would control 27.62 acres of Miami's shoreline. The profits get wired out of state. The consequences stay here.
Forty-five years, plus two fifteen-year renewals the tenant can trigger on its own. That is up to 75 years — three generations — with no binding requirement for affordable slips, no enforceable construction schedule, and parking the tenant may change at its own discretion. Everything voters are promised sits outside the contract.
Renewals at the tenant's sole discretion
No enforceable public-access guarantees
Only City of Miami voters decide this. Early voting Oct 24–31. Registration closes Oct 5. Bring someone with you.