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BY PATRICIA MAZZEI
pmazzei@MiamiHerald.com
Maria Luisa Garcia has been living across from the new Marlins stadium and old Orange Bowl site for nearly 30 years.
Inside the former Orange Bowl, construction of a new baseball stadium moves forth in a blizzard of activity, the ballpark more than one-third done and racing for a 2012 grand opening.
But outside the stadium, East Little Havana has felt little impact yet from the $642 million project, funded mostly by public dollars and pitched to residents with a promise that if you build it, they will come.
As the columns of the enormous structure climb skyward by the day, there are no discernible signs of the stadium spurring retailers, restaurants or businesses to commit to the area.
``Everybody's hoping that the neighborhood will change,'' said Robert Fenton, the city of Miami's stadium project manager. ``But there's no concrete plans as to any future development in the area, [other] than hoping it will take off and start changing.''
That sets Miami apart from other U.S. cities, such as San Diego and St. Louis, where baseball stadiums sparked neighborhood renaissances: They had clear, extensive plans for how the stadium surroundings would change.
``There was never a plan,'' said Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, who voted against the stadium as a commissioner. ``We're looking at the possibility of a charter school. But other than that, it's just words, words, words.
``There's still time [for a plan], but there is no money,'' he added. ``Now we have to wait for the private sector.''
With less than two years until the stadium's planned opening -- the Florida Marlins have begun to sell 2012 season tickets -- there's still time for businesses to bring Little Havana to life.
Three of the four parking garages the city is building for the ballpark will have close to 56,000 square feet in ground-floor retail space, and the stadium will have a team store and restaurant -- all intended to be open year-round.
Yet the lack of noticeable impact outside the ballpark site more than a year into the project raises some worries among locals who fear that no long-term development will follow.
``If you drive by there, there's really nothing going on in the area,'' lamented Yvonne Bayona, a Little Havana activist.
Nearby, a few for-rent signs dot commercial properties in the corner of Northwest 17th Avenue and Seventh Street. One reads: ``The Marlins Are Coming.''
``As soon as it went up, I got a couple of calls,'' said Sanford Rakofsky, the property owner who began displaying two identical signs earlier this month.
``The stadium is a fantastic boon for the neighborhood,'' he added. ``I think it's going to attract a lot of projects, though it takes time.''
For now, Little Havana's vibrance has nothing to do with the stadium -- it's the monthly Viernes Culturales, or Cultural Fridays, on Southwest Eighth Street that keep stores and art galleries open late and revelers in bars and restaurants.
Those bursts of energy have not spread north to the environs of the stadium, which was sold to the public in large part on how it would serve as a long-awaited shot in the arm to the downtrodden neighborhood.
``We're going to have economic vitality in an area I represent that has been neglected for many, many years,'' former Commissioner Joe Sanchez said when the city signed off on the project last year, according to meeting minutes.
Residents were promised restaurants and shops in exchange for $490 million of county and city public money to build a structure for the Marlins -- a team that Forbes magazine said made the largest profit in all of baseball last year. The Marlins will spend $120 million in construction, and pay the county back another $35 million of borrowed money.
Among the selling points: The stadium will host 81 home games a year, far more than the half-dozen University of Miami football games hosted in the former Orange Bowl each year. So, supporters say, there's much more opportunity for retailers to sell. ``This is going to be a very active area,'' said P.J. Loyello, a Marlins executive and spokesman. ``From a ballclub perspective this is not a short-term relationship.
``We're going to be here for decades and decades and decades. It's going to take some time . . . but 2012 is just around the corner, and by then we're very confident the transformation will have started.''
The Miami Parking Authority, which will operate the garages, has not leased the retail space yet. ``It's too early,'' said Art Noriega, who heads the parking authority. ``If we had a tenant right now, they'd be sitting on their hands for a better part of well over a year.''
New baseball stadiums elsewhere -- notably San Francisco and, more recently, San Diego and Washington D.C. -- have triggered neighborhood revivals with stores, apartments, offices and hotels. But in those cases, the stadiums were in areas that were gradually redeveloping anyway. Cities had plans laying out new urban districts, and, particularly in San Diego, team owners had committed substantial amounts of money for redevelopment. Without a concerted redevelopment effort in place in Miami, remaking the neighborhood will be more challenging.
``When you want to have these sort of effects, if you don't have a plan in place with the financing arranged, then hoping it's going to happen tends to lead to it not happening,'' said Mark Rosentraub, a University of Michigan sports management professor who has consulted on stadium projects and criticized the Marlins deal.
The last stadium built in South Florida -- the privately financed Joe Robbie Stadium, for now named Sun Life Stadium and home to the Marlins, UM and the Miami Dolphins -- did not spur a flurry of investment in the surrounding Miami Gardens neighborhood.
``The stadium has not been a draw to businesses to come to this area,'' said Shirley Gibson, the city's mayor.
In Little Havana, business owners still smarting from losing the Orange Bowl hope the new stadium will provide a boost, said Romelio Peña, who was manning the cashier recently at Bowl Bar & Liquors across the street from the construction site.
``Tearing down the Orange Bowl really hurt us,'' he said.
Peña hopes the new glitzy ballpark may prompt locals to give their businesses a fresh coat of paint to take on the new competition. But fears linger that any rush of patrons or investors could be short-lived. ``They'll come at the beginning,'' Peña predicted. ``But the Marlins have to improve the team.''
Yet other locals share optimism that Little Havana will eventually benefit from the project, once it's closer to completion and the economy rebounds.
``I think this neighborhood is going to be one of the big winners,'' said Guarione Diaz, president of the Cuban American National Council, a Little Havana-based nonprofit human services organization. ``People will follow the money.''
Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.
pmazzei@MiamiHerald.com
Maria Luisa Garcia has been living across from the new Marlins stadium and old Orange Bowl site for nearly 30 years.
Inside the former Orange Bowl, construction of a new baseball stadium moves forth in a blizzard of activity, the ballpark more than one-third done and racing for a 2012 grand opening.
But outside the stadium, East Little Havana has felt little impact yet from the $642 million project, funded mostly by public dollars and pitched to residents with a promise that if you build it, they will come.
As the columns of the enormous structure climb skyward by the day, there are no discernible signs of the stadium spurring retailers, restaurants or businesses to commit to the area.
``Everybody's hoping that the neighborhood will change,'' said Robert Fenton, the city of Miami's stadium project manager. ``But there's no concrete plans as to any future development in the area, [other] than hoping it will take off and start changing.''
That sets Miami apart from other U.S. cities, such as San Diego and St. Louis, where baseball stadiums sparked neighborhood renaissances: They had clear, extensive plans for how the stadium surroundings would change.
``There was never a plan,'' said Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, who voted against the stadium as a commissioner. ``We're looking at the possibility of a charter school. But other than that, it's just words, words, words.
``There's still time [for a plan], but there is no money,'' he added. ``Now we have to wait for the private sector.''
With less than two years until the stadium's planned opening -- the Florida Marlins have begun to sell 2012 season tickets -- there's still time for businesses to bring Little Havana to life.
Three of the four parking garages the city is building for the ballpark will have close to 56,000 square feet in ground-floor retail space, and the stadium will have a team store and restaurant -- all intended to be open year-round.
Yet the lack of noticeable impact outside the ballpark site more than a year into the project raises some worries among locals who fear that no long-term development will follow.
``If you drive by there, there's really nothing going on in the area,'' lamented Yvonne Bayona, a Little Havana activist.
Nearby, a few for-rent signs dot commercial properties in the corner of Northwest 17th Avenue and Seventh Street. One reads: ``The Marlins Are Coming.''
``As soon as it went up, I got a couple of calls,'' said Sanford Rakofsky, the property owner who began displaying two identical signs earlier this month.
``The stadium is a fantastic boon for the neighborhood,'' he added. ``I think it's going to attract a lot of projects, though it takes time.''
For now, Little Havana's vibrance has nothing to do with the stadium -- it's the monthly Viernes Culturales, or Cultural Fridays, on Southwest Eighth Street that keep stores and art galleries open late and revelers in bars and restaurants.
Those bursts of energy have not spread north to the environs of the stadium, which was sold to the public in large part on how it would serve as a long-awaited shot in the arm to the downtrodden neighborhood.
``We're going to have economic vitality in an area I represent that has been neglected for many, many years,'' former Commissioner Joe Sanchez said when the city signed off on the project last year, according to meeting minutes.
Residents were promised restaurants and shops in exchange for $490 million of county and city public money to build a structure for the Marlins -- a team that Forbes magazine said made the largest profit in all of baseball last year. The Marlins will spend $120 million in construction, and pay the county back another $35 million of borrowed money.
Among the selling points: The stadium will host 81 home games a year, far more than the half-dozen University of Miami football games hosted in the former Orange Bowl each year. So, supporters say, there's much more opportunity for retailers to sell. ``This is going to be a very active area,'' said P.J. Loyello, a Marlins executive and spokesman. ``From a ballclub perspective this is not a short-term relationship.
``We're going to be here for decades and decades and decades. It's going to take some time . . . but 2012 is just around the corner, and by then we're very confident the transformation will have started.''
The Miami Parking Authority, which will operate the garages, has not leased the retail space yet. ``It's too early,'' said Art Noriega, who heads the parking authority. ``If we had a tenant right now, they'd be sitting on their hands for a better part of well over a year.''
New baseball stadiums elsewhere -- notably San Francisco and, more recently, San Diego and Washington D.C. -- have triggered neighborhood revivals with stores, apartments, offices and hotels. But in those cases, the stadiums were in areas that were gradually redeveloping anyway. Cities had plans laying out new urban districts, and, particularly in San Diego, team owners had committed substantial amounts of money for redevelopment. Without a concerted redevelopment effort in place in Miami, remaking the neighborhood will be more challenging.
``When you want to have these sort of effects, if you don't have a plan in place with the financing arranged, then hoping it's going to happen tends to lead to it not happening,'' said Mark Rosentraub, a University of Michigan sports management professor who has consulted on stadium projects and criticized the Marlins deal.
The last stadium built in South Florida -- the privately financed Joe Robbie Stadium, for now named Sun Life Stadium and home to the Marlins, UM and the Miami Dolphins -- did not spur a flurry of investment in the surrounding Miami Gardens neighborhood.
``The stadium has not been a draw to businesses to come to this area,'' said Shirley Gibson, the city's mayor.
In Little Havana, business owners still smarting from losing the Orange Bowl hope the new stadium will provide a boost, said Romelio Peña, who was manning the cashier recently at Bowl Bar & Liquors across the street from the construction site.
``Tearing down the Orange Bowl really hurt us,'' he said.
Peña hopes the new glitzy ballpark may prompt locals to give their businesses a fresh coat of paint to take on the new competition. But fears linger that any rush of patrons or investors could be short-lived. ``They'll come at the beginning,'' Peña predicted. ``But the Marlins have to improve the team.''
Yet other locals share optimism that Little Havana will eventually benefit from the project, once it's closer to completion and the economy rebounds.
``I think this neighborhood is going to be one of the big winners,'' said Guarione Diaz, president of the Cuban American National Council, a Little Havana-based nonprofit human services organization. ``People will follow the money.''
Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.
Answer: Because it doesn't open until 2012.
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