LTC 339-2015 Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Referendum MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive,Miami Beach, Florida 33139,www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
LTC # 3392015 LETTER ';s COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members of I he City Com 'ssion
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
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DATE: August 31, 2015
SUBJECT: Convention Center Headquarter Hote' Referendum
Attached please find correspondence from Jack Portman transmitted to me over the weekend.
As a result of this request, my intention is to withdraw item R7B "Resolution Calling November 3,
2015 Special Election for the Headquarter Hotel Leased Property"from consideration until a
later date.
Item R7A for the Development and Ground Lease Agreement, 2nd Reading, will remain on the
agenda.
If you have any questions, please contact me at extension 6637.
Thank you.
Attachment: Email correspondence dated August 29, 2015 from Jack Portman.
cc: Maria Hernandez, Project Director, Convention Center District
JLM/MH
F:\cmgr\$ALL\Convention Center\LTC's\LTC_Hotel Referendum Withdrawal_08-31-15.doc
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Morales, Jimmy
From: Portman, Jack <Jportman @portmanholdings.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2015 9:30 PM
To: Morales, Jimmy
Cc: Baisiwala, Ambrish
Subject: Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel
Jimmy,
We greatly appreciate the help and support we've received from you and the City in developing the Convention
Center Hotel. Our enthusiasm to move forward with the Hotel is as strong as ever, and we still believe this is a
tremendous opportunity for us to work with the City in a way that will be mutually beneficial. However, several
developments have occurred recently that have lead us to conclude that postponing the referendum on the Hotel
until next March will give us a greater chance to be successful in obtaining the necessary vote.
We need the additional time to thoroughly prepare our public outreach campaign to ensure the voters are
properly informed of all the positive benefits that will result from the development of the convention
headquarter hotel project. The city's investment of$500 million in its convention center will only be successful
if the adjacent convention hotel is constructed. This is a complex undertaking and after discussions with several
community leaders we believe the public awareness and understanding of the referendum question needs to be
more thoroughly communicated.
We've also discovered that the prospects for the Hotel are so well considered by the major hotel operators that
we are spending more time than originally anticipated in evaluating the operator we want to move forward with.
Each of the operators has shown flexibility and creativity in trying to convince us that they are the right fit for
this Hotel. We think this is a good indication of the future success of the Hotel. We don't want this decision
making process to hinder our ability to move forward with the project immediately after a successful
referendum, so here again additional time will help us to adhere more effectively to our development schedule.
We would appreciate the City's indulgent in granting this request for an extension. We also request the city
move forward with the second reading of the lease as scheduled in order that this process reaches conclusion as
soon as possible. Rest assured that we are still strongly motivated to proceed with the Hotel, and are making this
request only because we believe it is in the best interest of the successful implementation of this project._
Regards,
Jack Portman
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