About 100 people rallied Monday at Gramps Getaway on Virginia Key against a city of Miami ballot measure. Referendum 3 would lease roughly 27.6 acres of public waterfront along the Rickenbacker Causeway to Virginia Key LLC, a joint venture of developer RCI Group and Dallas-based Suntex Marinas, for up to 75 years.

The Rickenbacker Causeway is the only road link to Key Biscayne, and the marina properties line the route every island resident drives. The rally signals growing resistance ahead of the Nov. 3 vote.

"We want people to vote on it. We want people to vote no, because it's a bad deal, and it's an old deal," Gramps Getaway owner Adam Gersten told the crowd, as first reported by the Miami New Times.

Gersten opened Gramps Getaway in late 2023 at Rickenbacker Marina, taking over the former Whiskey Joe's waterfront space. The restaurant sits inside the footprint covered by the proposed lease. Gersten and Rickenbacker Marina Inc. have sued to challenge the deal, arguing Gramps' current lease would be terminated if voters approve the proposal.

Referendum 3 supporters counter that the restaurant could stay. Their campaign says the project would modernize the aging marinas while the land remains in public hands.

What the proposed marina lease includes

The ballot language calls for a 45-year initial lease with two 15-year renewal options, bringing the potential total to 75 years. Virginia Key LLC would pay a minimum annual guaranteed rent of $2.2 million, with escalations totaling about $204 million over the initial term, plus 6% of gross revenues. The developer has pledged about $80 million in private investment to rebuild the marinas.

Opponents and supporters sharply disagree on whether the rent is fair. Aabad Melwani, president and second-generation owner of Rickenbacker Marina Inc., wrote in a Sept. 17 Community Newspapers op-ed that the lease terms date to a 2017 bid and that property values have since doubled. He said the city currently nets about $2 million in rent from Rickenbacker Marina alone, including 15% of marina revenues and 40% of sublease income.

Robert W. Christoph Jr., president of RCI Group, told WLRN that city-commissioned appraisals found the proposed rent above market value and that the $2.2 million guaranteed annual rent is more than six times what the current operator pays in guaranteed rent, as reported by the Miami Herald.

A decade of lawsuits and delays

The Miami City Commission voted unanimously June 11 to place Referendum 3 on the November ballot, though some commissioners voiced reservations. "I think this is a bad deal for the city," Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela said at that meeting, according to the Miami Herald. City Attorney George Wysong told commissioners the case had been "litigated up and down" and warned that further delay could provoke contempt proceedings.

The referendum traces to a 2017 request-for-proposals process. Virginia Key LLC sued the city in 2021 after the deal stalled, and in 2023 a Miami-Dade circuit judge ordered the city to put the proposal to voters. Florida's 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld that ruling.

In August, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Lisa Walsh denied Rickenbacker Marina Inc.'s request to block the referendum from the ballot. The underlying lawsuit, which argues the lease is below fair market value, remains pending and could proceed to a jury trial.

Who spoke at Monday's rally

Former state Sen. Annette Taddeo, a candidate on the November ballot, attended the rally and urged voters to reject Referendum 3, raising concerns about potential environmental effects of redevelopment near the property's mangroves. Miami musician Harold Trucco, who performed at the original Gramps in Wynwood, also spoke against the proposal.

Gersten said he supports investing in the waterfront but wants voters to reject this deal so a better one can be negotiated.

Miami voters will decide Referendum 3 on Nov. 3.