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City rejects Marlins ballpark proposal — for now

The $606-million Florida Marlins ballpark proposal suffered a major setback today after the Miami City Commission deadlocked on the financial arrangements, though negotiations to break the tie are going on now.The $606-million Florida Marlins ballpark proposal suffered a major setback today after the Miami City Commission deadlocked on the financial arrangements, though negotiations to break the tie are going on now.

Currently representatives from the Marlins, MLB, Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami are meeting to discuss the deal.

The 2-2 vote came unexpectedly after Commissioner Marc Sarnoff demanded a slew of changes to the financial arrangement negotiated by the Marlins and the local government units. Among them, Sarnoff wants to see the Marlins contribute more to the costs of an adjacent parking ramp, give up naming-rights revenues to the city and county, and promise to split profits should the team be sold.

Ironically, city approval was seen as a sure deal because Miami’s exposure on the deal is limited; the city’s contribution to the ballpark is capped at $13 million. But concern about whether the parking lot would end up breaking even — officials estimated that would take 35 years — and the revelation that the total ballpark project would cost Miami-Dade County $1.9 billion is leading many to take a fresh look at the project. As we said, the city council is in recess; we’ll follow the action to see if anything else happesn today.

RELATED STORIES: Total borrowing cost of new Marlins ballpark: $1.9 billion