Miami voters reject Virginia Key deal to lease public waterfront to developers

VIRGINIA KEY, FLA. (WSVN) City of Miami voters rejected Referendum 3 which would ve allowed nearly 28 acres of public waterfront to be leased over an initial 45 years of redevelopment. The referendum was rejected in a 65% to 35% vote. If it had passed, the land would have been leased to Virginia Key LLC, a joint venture between RCI Group and Dallas based Suntex Marinas for a 45 year term that could be extended for more than 75 years, and in return, the City of Miami would have received $2.2 million in annual rent. However, critics of the plan had raised concerns of potential environmental harm. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.