City of Miami voters will decide the fate of a proposed development on Watson Island, which would include luxury condominiums and a 13.3-acre city park. The Miami City Commission approved the wording of the ballot question at its meeting on Thursday.
Now it’s up to voters to decide on the November ballot whether the project will go forward. If approved, developers would pay $135 million to buy or lease 5.4 acres of city-owned land on the north side of Watson Island to build condos.
Another 10.7-acre parcel on the south side has already been leased to a different developer. Under the plan that will be on the ballot, that developer would be able to sell 3.
2 acres of that lot and would use the remainder to build a condo hotel. The developers on the north side of the island would be required to leave 13.3 acres on Watson Island to the city to use for a park.
District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo said the park would support educational programs, including partnerships with the Pérez Art Museum Miami and the Frost museum. Developers on the north side of the island would also foot the bill for the park, Pardo said. That would include the estimated $38 million it would cost to build it and about $2 million a year to maintain it.
The two agenda items related to the project were passed as part of a consent agenda at the commission meeting, so commissioners did not discuss or vote upon them individually. The proposed project spans both the northern and southern portions of Watson Isl.