Miami Arena

Miami Arena
Miami, Florida

Property Address:
721 NW 1st Ave.,
Miami, FL 33136

Ground-up development of a 17,000-seat, 391,000-square-foot sports arena.

The City of Miami had no NBA basketball team. Through its Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority, the city invited major developers to propose the development of a public/private arena project to attract an NBA franchise. BPG won the competition and was named the managing partner of the consortium. It assembled the land to develop and operate the arena. BPG, through its joint venture called Decoma Venture, arranged for development rights, procured the land, and arranged private financing to build the arena. After commencing construction, BPG and the City worked together to procure an NBA franchise which became the Miami Heat. At completion, a private party also obtained a franchise for the Florida Panthers NHL hockey team and the team leased time in the arena. The project was sold by BPG and its partners in 1994.