MIAMI – Miami Beckham United sent a letter to Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado on Wednesday to formally inform him of its plan to build a new Major League Soccer stadium in downtown Miami.
"On behalf of Miami Beckham United LLC, we are pleased to write this letter to you to express our formal interest in building a soccer specific stadium in the site adjacent to Marlins Park," the letter read. "We have done a considerable amount of work to understand the requirements of the site and its potential as the home of our Major League Soccer franchise. While there is still work to be done, including completing the land assembly, we firmly believe that we can build a world-class stadium at the site."
READ: Full letter sent by Miami Beckham United
Last week, city officials agreed to build the new stadium next to Marlins Park.
Since David Beckham was granted ownership rights to an expansion team by the league, Beckham has long desired to return the MLS team to South Florida.
The group originally desired a stadium to be built on a waterfront site in downtown Miami, but after city officials denied those options, Beckham began to look farther inland.
The English soccer icon toured Marlins Park as a possible site for a new team in 2014.
"They know that they cannot ask any government for funds to build a stadium," Regalado told Local 10 News. "They realize the bad taste of the people of South Florida with the Marlins deal, and we told them."
Marlins Park was originally considered undesirable by Beckham, with one of his business partners even going so far as to call the site "spiritually tainted" by the financing deal that had taxpayers footing the majority of the stadium's costs.
"David, Simon and Marcelo have officially notified Mayor Regalado and the city of Miami of their intent to develop a world-class soccer stadium on the former Orange Bowl site in Little Havana," a Miami Beckham United representative said in a statement. "Miami Beckham United looks forward to entering into formal discussions with the city and, ultimately, Miami-Dade County en route to launching an MLS club in Miami within the coming years. Exact timing and important details will be agreed upon shortly, but two things are for certain: the soccer stadium will be privately funded without taxpayer dollars, and the finished product will be something that makes the South Florida community proud."
The thought of relocating has many residents on edge as apartments and businesses west of Marlins Park are learning there's an interest in their properties to build the stadium.
Concerned resident Jorge Erazo said he learned of it on the news.
"I don't want to move from here. I like it here," said concerned resident Jorge Erazo. "That's the main concern -- where are we going to go? This is too expensive."
There are other concerns mentioned by locals though, including traffic.
South Florida has been without an MLS team since the Miami Fusion folded in 2001 after four seasons of play.
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