Lawsuit aims to invalidate referendum on redevelopment plan for marinas on Virginia Key
The future of valuable city-owned land on Virginia Key could be determined in Miami’s Nov. 2 election, but a newly filed lawsuit seeks to invalidate a ballot question that would give the current operator of Miami’s Rickenbacker Marina exclusive rights to negotiate a long-term lease.
On Friday, Virginia Key, LLC, a company led by investors who twice in the last six years have sought unsuccessfully to redevelop the 27-acre property on the west side of Virginia Key, filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against the city of Miami, Miami-Dade County Elections Supervisor Christina White and Biscayne Marine Partners, led by current marina operator Aabad Melwani.
The lawsuit asks a judge to invalidate the Nov. 2 referendum, which seeks to give city officials the ability to negotiate a no-bid, 75-year lease with Melwani’s team.
The lawsuit also asks a judge to award the right to negotiate a new lease to the plaintiff, led by RCI Group principal Robert Christoph. It notes that Melwani has placed last in two city competitions to award the site to a development team and operator — only to see city commissioners on both occasions reject all bids.
“It is now apparent that the City Commission never would have awarded the project to [Virginia Key, LLC], or anyone other than its favorite, regardless of the merits of its bids because the city all along intended to award the project to [Melwani] by any means necessary,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also names Arnold Douglas Pilkington as a plaintiff. A spokesperson for the Christoph group said Pilkington is a Miami resident who followed press coverage of the public bids and argues that the ballot question is misleading.
On Monday afternoon, Miguel De Grandy, Melwani’s attorney, said he expects the lawsuit will be dismissed in court because it is riddled with problems, including the suggestion that a top-ranked bidder in public solicitation has a right to a city contract.
“This is not uncharted waters. This has been tested before. This is procurement 101 law,” De Grandy said. “You do not have a right to a contract unless there is a right awarded by the commission.”
Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez said the city had not yet been served the lawsuit.
“We look forward to addressing this suit in court,” she told the Miami Herald.
The drama, and the question before voters
The question on the ballot in the city of Miami asks voters to grant Melwani the right to redevelop the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas into a large marina complex with restaurants, retail and dry dock storage.
The city government has long sought to boost profits from its waterfront real estate through a lease of the public land. And Melwani, whose family has managed the Rickenbacker Marina for decades, has been on teams that have twice bid on the redevelopment plan since 2015. Evaluation committees ranked his teams third and second in those bids.
The Christoph-led group is seeking to invalidate the referendum and force the city to award them the lease, along with $4 million in damages — money the company says it lost on two rounds of contentious bidding that went nowhere. Christoph also accuses the city of misleading the public with the referendum by not disclosing that Melwani was not the top-ranked bidder, twice.
Prominent lawyer and former federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey is representing Christoph’s company.
Battles between different marina operator teams and lobbyists have led to accusations of impropriety and litigation, marring both solicitations. Over the years, commissioners have twice rejected multiple city managers’ recommendations to lease the land to Christoph and his affiliates. In November 2020, commissioners shelved the latest bid and considered launching a third solicitation.
In July, Commissioner Ken Russell pushed for the Nov. 2 ballot question as a way to conclude the saga over the long-desired redevelopment of the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas. Russell has for years discounted the RCI group because of the company’s involvement in a major Biscayne Bay sewage spill in 2000. Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla opposed the referendum, arguing that a last-minute unsolicited bid from Suntex Marinas proved the city could make a better deal. Suntex was part of the RCI group during the most recent bid.
Miami-Dade County’s elections department has already sent mail ballots to voters, and ballots have been printed for the upcoming early voting period. Should the marina referendum be invalidated in court, early voting sites would post a notice alerting voters that the ballot question will no longer count.
The ballot question language:
Shall Miami’s Charter be amended authorizing City to waive competitive bidding, negotiate, execute 75 year waterfront lease (marinas, restaurants, marine related uses) of approximately 27 acres (generally 3301, 3307, 3605, 3501 Rickenbacker Causeway) with Biscayne Marine Partners LLC, for minimum:
▪ $115,000,000 tenant capital investment
▪ $2,750,000 annual rent (10% for Virginia Key Beach Park Trust) or fair market value
▪ 6% gross boat storage, fuel revenues; 4% gross revenues from other sources?
