The fine reporters at Miami Today lead off with a major updated on the ballpark project.

It looks like the Marlins are so confident that they deal will get done that they have retained HOK Sports and are already reviewing 3 different ballpark designs. The new $389.4 million ballpark will include a retractable roof, 37,000 seats, and 60 club suites. These details come from a preliminary agreement between Miami-Dade, Miami, and the Marlins.

Under the agreement, the Marlins would keep proceeds from the naming rights to the new ballpark, and construction materials used to build the stadium — totaling $525 million — would not be subject to sales taxes, pending state approval.

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Looks like February 5th will the day when Miami-Dade County will vote on the ballpark proposal. That means the sides haven’t finalized the definitive agreement.

The bottom line is very encouraging:

“From what I’ve been told, we are so close it’s incredible; it’s very minor differences,” [Commission Chairman Bruno ] Barreiro said Thursday. “Our attorneys have said we’ve never been closer.”

If you haven’t heard already, Miami-Dade County has delayed the vote on the stadium plan because they’re still negotiating the final deal.

Miami-Dade was scheduled to review all the details of their $3 billion improvement plan (including the ballpark) at today’s meeting, but the ballpark piece was pushed back to January 10th. Sounds to us like they’re delaying any discussion until the definitive agreement is concluded between the parties. This makes sense because the Marlins want to only have one more public discussion and vote at the county level — the final vote. So now we know that Samson and company have 3 weeks to draft, negotiate, and execute the final deal.

After a long day of debating, Miami-Dade County approved transferring the Orange Bowl fund ($50 million) to Project Number 50A (the Marlins Ballpark) and approved a $3 billion investment package which includes the port tunnel, street car, museum, and of course the ballpark. Quite a few commissioners openly expressed their support for the ballpark and it looks like the momentum is moving in the right direction.

Next up: the sides need to finalize the actual agreement.

Update: Notice the use of the word “will”:

“It’s the biggest vote to date,” Marlins president David Samson said. “It sets up a process in which a stadium deal will be completed.” [Emphasis added]

Here is the link to the official memo regarding the new Miami Marlins ballpark. Yes, we’ll need to get use to that name by 2011.

Update: Reading through the memo, it hurts to read that the site in downtown was actually cheaper and better than the Orange Bowl site. Alas, we’ll take whatever we can get. Also, construction begins November 2008 with opening day scheduled for the 2011 season.

Update 2: The County wants to look into the fabric roof concept introduced by Tampa Bay’s proposed pirate ship of a stadium. They believe it saves both construction and air conditioning cost. I say we we build a real roof — hybrid roofs don’t have a good track record (see Olympic Stadium in Montreal).

Update 3: Forgot to mention: total of 37,000 seats, 3,000 club seats, 60 private suites, 7,200 affordable seats, and parking. Total cost: $525,000,000 ($489,800,000 for construction and design + $4,200,000 for furniture fixtures and equipment + $9,000,000 for owner contingency + $12,000,000 for site work + $10,000,000 demolition of the Orange Bowl, infrastructure and site prep).

Update 4: If the Marlins are sold to a new owner in the first 10 years (except for the unfortunate death of the team’s principle owner), the team would have to pay the County a percentage of the sale price with the assumed price at signing being $250,000,000.

“We have a funding plan in place we think works — finally…” – George Burgess

What started off as a get together grew into a bigger meeting resulting in the unveiling of the plan for a new Marlins ballpark at the Orange Bowl site.

Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess offered the Florida Marlins a revised plan for the Orange Bowl site Tuesday that shifts a large out-of-pocket cash burden to the ball club, yet costs the county more long term.

Burgess’s plan, detailed in a cramped third floor County Hall conference room with Major League Baseball in attendance, prompted team officials to break a year-long silence on publicly discussing stadium issues.

While the Marlins’ overall investment was reduced from the previously reported $207 million to $155 million, the Marlins will now have to come up with all that money up front.

As for the county:

the county will put up $199 million in mostly tourist tax dollars and chip in $50 million from a General Obligation Bond. While that $249 million total is less than the $307 million previously discussed, the county would not be getting additional payments back from the team.

Also:

The Marlins would be responsible for cost overruns, and the city of Miami would be on the hook for building a 6,000-car garage. The county would own the stadium.

As for next steps, the County Commission will meet next Tuesday to discuss the plan. The City of Miami, which is investing $121 million tourist tax dollars, also needs to sign off on the deal. Additionally, the team must sign a non-relocation agreement.