The drama over the effort to bring Major League Soccer to Miami is heating up, as the city is now considering a lawsuit against the management company that operates at a public golf course where a massive soccer complex could be constructed.
A lawsuit has been drafted accusing management company DeLucca Enterprises of operating more than a dozen businesses out of Melreese Country Club, Miami’s only public golf course.
Owner Charlie DeLucca is a fixture in Miami's golf community. And City commissioner Manolo Reyes thinks the possible suit is an effort to move DeLucca, and the golf course, out.
"I think this is one of the first steps. And what really amazes me is that it is a draconian decision and I want you out of there without coming to the commission," Reyes told NBC 6 Friday.
Soccer icon David Beckham and his Miami business partners want to replace Melreese with a soccer stadium complex, which would include a hotel, restaurants, office space and green space.
The city’s drafted complaint claims the defendants "have each used the real property of the city of Miami known as Melreese Golf Course as their principal place of business. None of these business entities had or have a legal right to use that address or those premises."
"The city has been asking the Melreese folks to provide the documentation of all of the numbers, what's going in what is coming out. It's been unfruitful," said Rene Pedrosa, a spokesman for the office of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
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A lawyer for the management company released a statement saying, in part, that "DeLucca Enterprises had previously addressed the City's questions about most, if not all, of the companies."
A resolution to move forward with possible legal action is set to be considered at the next commission meeting. Both parties hope to have the matter settled before it comes to that.
