Freedom Park gets boost from state grants, new rail trip for soccer

 As Inter Miami CF prepares to begin the first Major League Soccer season in its newly named Nu Stadium next month, grants to add a roadway and flood mitiga­tion at its Freedom Park location moved through county hall and Tri-Rail added special trains for soccer matches.

State grants that will flow through the county will add an $8 million, 3,600-linear-foot main road in Freedom Park and provide $3 million for flood mitigation and infrastructure improvements in the public areas of the devel­opment that is taking shape on the site of the City of Miami’s former Melreese golf course at 1400 NW 37th Ave. adjacent to Grapeland Park.

On Monday, the operator of Tri-Rail announced special trains for weekend evening matches at the 25,000-seat stadium. A post-game train will head north from Miami Airport Station at the nearby Miami Intermodal Center, which rail operator South Florida Regional Transportation Authority said is within walking distance of the stadium – though a planned footbridge that is to ease the quarter-mile walk from Freedom Park to and from trains has yet to be built.

“With Tri-Rail trains stopping just steps from the new stadium, this is the best way for people traveling from Palm Beach, Bro­ward or even north Miami-Dade County to get to Miami Freedom Park,” said Diane Hernandez Del Calvo, interim executive director of the regional authority.

Last week, the county’s In­tergovernmental and Economic Impact Committee approved two measures to execute grant agree­ments with the state to benefit the development of Freedom Park.

One vote approved a Miami Freedom Park Management Agreement between the county and developer Freedom Park LLC for construction of the main public roadway with four lanes serving the vast development that will include not only the soccer stadium but a 750-room hotel oriented to nearby Miami Interna­tional Airport, office buildings, a parking garage serving the entire development, a 58-acre public park area, and the City of Miami’s new administration building.

The state in 2024 approved an $8 million infrastructure grant from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to develop the road­way. Under the agreement, the county will administer that grant for a $400,000 fee from the de­veloper, and Lemartec Corp., the construction manager for Free­dom Park, will build the roadway as it builds out the development.

Another county vote last week approved a $3 million grant agree­ment with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and waived competitive bidding to approve project management between the county and Freedom Park LLC for flood mitigation and infrastructure improvements.

The county will receive the $3 million grant from the state, and Miami Freedom Park will per­form and design the work needed under the grant, including storm drainage for the public park, el­evation to reduce flood risks, and clean fill to cap the contaminated soils on the site, which was once a dump before it was covered over to become a city golf course.

The environmental grant work, which will also be done by Le­martec as it builds out the project, includes a one-mile wellness loop. The county will receive from the developers a $150,000 construc­tion, engineering and inspection fee for services by a third-party firm to oversee the grant use.

The City of Miami in Novem­ber revised the Miami Freedom Park lease to ensure that the developers dedicate $20 million solely to the 58-acre public park and set a nine-month timeline for delivering its core features, as the park’s opening lagged behind the stadium’s.

November amendments also extended the initial lease term of the site to 55 years while reduc­ing renewal options, allowed the city’s municipal administration building and an FPL substa­tion to be built within the park, relocated planned sports fields from atop the stadium parking structure, authorized specific park signage, and updated construction easements to accommodate these adjustments.

Miami Freedom Park was first approved by city voters in 2018 as a 73-acre soccer stadium and commercial development, includ­ing the 58-acre public park.

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