Referendum 3: Miami Votes on a Virginia Key Marina Lease

On November 3, 2026, City of Miami voters decide Referendum 3: whether to lease about 27 acres of city waterfront on Virginia Key, around the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas, to Virginia Key LLC, a partnership of RCI Group and Suntex Marinas. The lease runs 45 years with two 15-year renewals, pays the city at least $2.2 million a year plus 6% of revenue, and comes with about $80 million of private redevelopment, WLRN, CBS Miami and The Real Deal reported.

Why it is on the ballot

Miami's charter requires voters to approve waterfront leases. Virginia Key LLC won a city bid in 2016; the city later canceled it, the company sued, and courts ruled against the city, so commissioners placed the lease on the ballot even though several of them criticized its terms, WLRN reported. Commissioner Miguel Gabela called it a bad deal for the city. A Miami-Dade judge in August declined to block the vote, Florida YIMBY reported.

What would change on the causeway

If approved, the existing marina tenants could be removed and their buildings demolished for a single privately run marina with restaurants, bars and shops, according to WLRN. That includes Gramps Getaway, the waterfront restaurant at Rickenbacker Marina whose owner, Adam Gersten, opposes the measure and rents month to month, CBS Miami and the Miami New Times reported. Opponents include boater groups and the Miami-Dade Democratic Party; supporters point to the private investment and habitat features such as living seawalls.

What it means for Key Biscayne condo owners

Virginia Key sits on the Rickenbacker Causeway, the only road between Key Biscayne and the mainland. Key Biscayne is its own village, outside the City of Miami, so island residents do not vote on Referendum 3 unless they are registered in the city. A yes vote means several years of construction along the Rickenbacker Causeway and a different, privately run marina. A no vote leaves the current tenants in place and the site's future open.

Here is the island's condo market as of October 13, 2026:

• 101 condos for sale against 177 closed sales over the last 12 months, about 6.8 months of supply, which our Buyer/Seller Market Index scores 55 of 100, a balanced market.
• The median closing price per square foot rose 9.3% from the year before, to $887, and 16% of sales closed at or above the asking price.
• Most sales were in older buildings: 120 of those 177 sales were in buildings completed before 1990, which are past the age that triggers Florida's milestone structural inspections.

Updated October 13, 2026 with Own.Miami market data and later reporting. First published September 22, 2026.