Miami

David Beckham Looking at New Options for Miami MLS Stadium

International soccer star David Beckham has given up on the approval process to build a Major League Soccer stadium near Marlins Park, but he's possibly looking elsewhere in Miami.

The Beckham stadium deal was taken off the city commission agenda for Tuesday. The proposed plan needed to be on the agenda in order to make the Dec. 10 deadline to get on the March ballot.

"Apparently it is because of the property owners there, the asking price, et cetera," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Mayor Gimenez is hoping soccer superstar David Beckham can figure something out.

"All I want is a stadium here. I will support them as much as I can, again with a caveat there's no public financing, no public funds to go to the stadium," Mayor Gimenez said.

Beckham had grandiose plans of building his stadium on the water. He liked the giant boat slip next to American Airlines Arena but that deal failed. He also liked a piece of property at Port Miami, but that went south as well.

Beckham's stadium would have squeezed up against Marlins Park. Lydia Gonzalez, who lives in the area, prefers Beckham not build there, "It does not bring us any benefits. We are going to have more traffic, we won't be able to afford the games."

An old boat yard near Miami International Airport was, and still may be, a location for Beckham's stadium. NBC 6 learned the area near Northwest 7th Street and 7th Avenue in Miami's Overtown neighborhood may also be a consideration.

Miami Beckham United released the following statement:

"While Miami Beckham United is still hopeful we can secure the necessary private properties adjacent to the Marlins Park site, we are faced with the fact that some owners are not interested in selling or are seeking completely unreasonable prices. Fortunately, we have been receiving interest from a number of private land owners with sites across Miami-Dade County and we are now in the process of evaluating those alternatives. David, Marcelo, Simon and Tim appreciate the strong support of our fans and we are doing everything in our power to make our dream of an MLS club in Miami a reality."

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