A consortium that includes retired Latin American sports stars landed an 80-year ground lease to develop a $275 million sports-themed mixed-use project in Homestead.
Last week, the Homestead City Council approved the agreement with Ponte Vedra Beach-based VSGS Facilities, which is planning Sports Performance Hub of Miami-Dade, a complex consisting of a 10,000-seat multipurpose stadium, a hotel with 100 to 150 rooms, a sports academy and a new public park with recreational amenities including pickleball, tennis and basketball courts.
VSGS would build the project on 112.5 acres within the city-owned Homestead Regional Park at 1601 Southeast 28 Avenue.
The firm is led by Darío Sala and Juan Sebastián Verón, two Argentine former professional soccer players. Other VSGS partners include Argentine retired professional basketball player and NBA Hall of Famer Manu Ginóbili; ex-professional tennis players Juan “Pico” Mónaco and Mariano Zabaleta; and Riccardo Silva, a real estate investor and owner of Miami FC, a professional soccer team that plays in the USL Championship league.
Miami FC would play its home games in the planned stadium, which would also host other sporting events, including the Homestead Championship Rodeo, city documents state.
VSGS had previously been negotiating with Miami-Dade County to build the project on county-owned land near Homestead Air Reserve Base. A VSGS spokesperson said the firm withdrew its proposal to the county.
The developer submitted a letter of intent to Homestead in May, and city officials began negotiations with VSGS the same month, Homestead City Manager Nzeribe “Zerry” Ihekwaba said at the July 30 city council meeting.
Homestead Mayor Steven Losner, who participated in the negotiations, said the lease terms were vetted by the city’s financial consultants, and the city and VSGS came to an agreement on the property’s fair market value.
“These folks are going to make a significant equity contribution,” Losner told his council colleagues. “We have hard and fast and clear obligations on both sides of this deal.”
Under the ground lease approved by the Homestead city council, VSGS agreed to pay the city $200,000 upon starting construction, which is planned for early next year, the agreement shows.
The developer will pay the city another $300,000 while the project is under construction. In 2030, when the project is expected to be completed, VSGS will pay $500,000 in annual rent for a five-year period. Thereafter, the firm will pay $852,000 annually. VSGS also agreed to share a percentage of revenues derived from sports event ticket sales, hotel rooms and naming rights.
