Here is my mock-up of the Melreese Country Club Mas was looking at. The reconfiguration is mostly to scale. I did this while busy at work so don't judge.
This will be very interesting. Garber has said many times that it has to be "downtown" Miami or it doesn't happen.
It feels like MLS' interest in the Miami market has warmed a bit as these years have gone on, but we'll see.
"We remain focused on a downtown Miami location, and we will not expand to Miami unless we have a downtown site for the stadium." Garber http://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/07/...wntown-miami-location-is-an-easy-out-for-mls/ https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/7/29/5947091/mls-miami-stadium-don-garber "We cannot go to Miami unless we have not just a viable, but a very, very strong downtown location" Garber http://www.kvia.com/news/mls-commis...-all-future-mls-expansion-franchises/55593831 "We would not have gotten into Miami if we could not be in the urban core." https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2017/07/miami-beckham-united-mls-look-for-success-in-miami/ Do you need more? I don't know and I don't know what that matters. I am not the one that said it. Garber did. Not sure why I have to define it.
You don't need to define it, but it would be a good thing to know. This may be an example of GarberBluster. I can guarantee you that while Minnesota United's new stadium is urban, it is definitely NOT downtown. And we have two downtowns to choose from.
sure but did he ever say they had to have a downtown stadium? Doesn't really matter where Minnesota's is. We are discussing Miami specifically. Due to Miami failing once it seems MLS has put different constraints on them. The comments I quoted are specific to Miami and not all expansion teams. I have never heard Garber make those comments specifically about any other market. I am not saying he hasn't but I haven't seen them. The latest information we have from Garber is Miami requires a downtown stadium. Until someone comes up with quotes specific to Miami countering that, that's what I'm going with. You guys can conjecture all you want.
Again you are free to conjecture all you want. Provide a link of him saying MLS is going to allow non downtown location. I was asked to provide link. I provided 4. I think I'll stick with what the man said himself rather than internet message board conjecture. Yes, I think MLS is going to require a downtown stadium for Miami. He also repeated this on TV interviews that I saw with my own eyes.
I edited my post...yes I think they will hold them to downtown. His comments on it stopped/slowed after they "secured" the overtown land as they had a downtown location at that point. Well other than his comment reaffirming they would not have awarded Miami if they hadn't been in the urban core.
Any Miami natives willing to vouch for the Melreese Country Club site's location? Is it good, bad, or decent for Miami residents?
I really just can't believe after officially announcing the team, they are really back to square one. It is crazy! This article is: - making the Overtown location sound dead. - saying a referendum required for the Melreese location (not until much later this year). That makes me extremely skeptical it will ever happen. - And....University of Miami being mentioned again So we are back to not knowing anything until another 5-7 months. We are right back where we were 4 years ago. This is a bad dream...right? http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article203678634.html “I’ve expressed a lot of concern over the last few months about the Overtown site, based on resident concerns in Spring Garden and Overtown,” Suarez said. “The pushback definitely was a concern.” “I think the vision that they’ve demonstrated also is greater and grander than the capacity for that site,” "In back-to-back interviews, Mas said that the site in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood isn’t large enough to fit his vision for what a soccer stadium should be, and that he is in talks with Miami-Dade County about how surrounding public housing complexes could be redeveloped " "Renting Melreese as a stadium site may rest with voters, with a referendum possible either in August or November" “I’m not going to give the land away,” "With far more real estate in Melreese, the Beckham group would have enough room for parking garages, practice soccer fields and possibly a stadium large enough to accommodate the University of Miami"
Hmm, good question. Probably two off the top of my head? Houston and Portland. Any others? There's a few that are within 2-3 miles of their downtown areas, and some that play in NFL-sized stadiums. Is there one I missed?
More on point, how many custom-built MLS stadiums (i.e. built primarily for the MLS team) could be considered downtown? Houston, Orlando, LAFC? I think that's about it.
Sorry for the reception you're getting Nash, you've got a strong point and made your case. I don't necessarily agree that Garber will nix a Miami SSS that's not downtown... but your quotes obviously reflect his thinking and MLS' ambition for the market. They want that market for its glamor and they think it needs glamor to succeed. They're thinking LAFC nowadays, not Carson Galaxy. The blowback you're getting reminds me of all the justification of Yankee Stadium we're hearing now. Which, fine... we can say "It is what it is" and be glad we have NYCFC. But a major bait and switch happened there. Before there was Villa or Viera or Lampard or even the logo, this was FC "Soccer Cathedral Within The City limits." I think it was a month ago that we were told "Hush now. Don't worry your little heads. We're playing in Overtown."
He did, and that's the point. When he was threatening to pull the plug on the Loons because they didn't have their stadium plan in place, he mentioned several times that the franchise was awarded on the basis of "a downtown Minneapolis stadium location." Snelling & University in St. Paul is many things, but downtown Minneapolis it is not. So...if Garber caved on Minnesota...which, while a good market, is, as we are constantly reminded, not as essential to MLS as Miami...if he caved on Minnesota's stadium, if the Miami braintrust finds a location anywhere within shouting distance of "downtown", The Don will smile and say what great potential the site has and how it will be one of the "league's crown jewels."
I wouldn't characterize Avaya Stadium as "urban," but it is nevertheless within the "downtown" San Jose city council district.
When I hear Garber and other MLS officials talk about downtown sites, I suspect what is really referenced is a site that is in the core of the city rather than a far-flung suburb a la Philadelphia, Dallas, New England, and Chicago, for example. Nashville got invited to MLS, and their stadium is most certainly not downtown, but it is within the core of the city. For Miami's bid, the golf course site seems to meet this criterion, whereas the Doral site almost certainly would not.