The progress has been remarkable. Last March, when InterMiami CF part owner David Beckham visited the grounds, the dilapidated Lockhart Stadium and Fort Lauderdale Baseball Stadium were still standing. They are gone. In their place, a new soccer stadium, a team headquarters building, and practice fields are all sprouting up.
It's a massive project, with roughly 300 workers on the site seven days a week, at least 12 hours a day.
"It's on such an accelerated timeline for us, it's going so fast, and we're really happy with where we are," said InterMiami CF sporting director Paul McDonough, who took us on a tour of the construction site. "Everything from the architects to the construction team and the city officials to all the subs, it's been one big effort, and without that we couldn't have gotten it done."
The stadium will seat 19,000 fans, but it's only part of the complex. The headquarters building will have a state of the art fitness facility, complete with an underwater treadmill and a gym with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the training pitch.
Six natural grass soccer practice fields are being installed, along with an artificial turf high school football stadium. All of the fields have lighting for night games and practice sessions.
Offices, lounges, and a cafeteria are being created for the first team players along with the United Soccer League and academy players.
The timeline is staring them in the face. The first Major League Soccer friendlies, or practice games, start in February with actual MLS games kicking off in March. Everything has to be completed by then.
"I was asked last week, what keeps you awake at night, I go, all of it, everything does, it's the nature of the beast, that's what we do for a living," said Tom Gonzalez, the construction site superintendent.
What about actual players on the team? McDonough says he can't spill any beans by naming players the team is pursuing, but says between the expansion draft and designated players, they have targets lined up.
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Meanwhile, they're still planning as they build.
"We're still trying to decide what the fan experience is gonna be, we're in the south end zone, we're gonna have a really nice, we're hoping organic, tail gate area with food trucks and places where people can congregate before the games," McDonough said.
McDonough said they're rolling in the sod three weeks from now. They have to let the grass grow in before games can be played.
"When this gets done and we kick the first ball, what we've accomplished in such a short amount of time, it's gone be great," McDonough said.
