Miami-Dade said Stephen Ross's airport hotel deal was ending. A memo says it is still in effect

The county gave two answers on one hotel lease

Ralph Cutié, who runs the airport as Miami-Dade's aviation director, told commissioners on Oct. 6 the county was "moving forward now with the termination" of the lease. The county projected $240 million in rent over the lease's 50 years. The developers hope to recover their costs from the airport, the newspaper Miami Today reports. On Oct. 16, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wrote that the lease remains in effect.

The story so far: In 2023, county commissioners awarded the venture the lease to build the Westin. Its plan had a bridge to the airport's Concourse D. In January of 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration found the 150-foot design would blind part of the airport's radar. It capped the hotel at 121 feet. In December of 2025, the developers told the airport the Westin could not be built under that limit.

Why it matters: The lease gives Miami-Dade two opposite answers on whether it must repay the developers. One clause covers the county ending the lease for airport use or another reason the county commission sets. If that happens before the hotel is built, the county pays the construction costs it accepts. Another clause covers federal aviation review. It says the developers get nothing if, after an FAA objection, the county voids the deal or leases the site to someone else. No record says which one applies.

What's new: The mayor's Oct. 16 memo says the airport "is also considering" adding part of its Taxi Lot to the lease for a four-star hotel. That needs FAA review and county approvals. If it fails, the county will prepare a new expedited bid, the memo says. The airport has also begun work on a new bid for the original site while it looks at other locations.

What's next: Aviation Director Ralph Cutié said Oct. 6 he expected to move forward with ending the lease within the next month, Bisnow reported. The memo, dated 10 days later, says there is no final decision.

Who's who

Stephen Ross founded Related Companies in 1972 and is worth $21.5 billion, Forbes estimates. Bisnow calls him chief executive of West Palm Beach-based Related Ross. Jeffrey Soffer is chief executive of Fontainebleau Development, Bisnow reports. The lessee, FDR Miami Hotel LLC, is "a joint venture between Fontainebleau Development LLC and The Related Companies," the memo says. It gives no ownership split. Ralph Cutié is Miami-Dade's aviation director and the airport's chief executive. Daniella Levine Cava is Miami-Dade's mayor, and Deputy Mayor Roy Coley is also in the memo's signature block. Commissioner Natalie Milian-Orbis made the Oct. 6 motion that called for the memo.

What the lease pays the county

The county's 2023 award file puts the deal at $240 million in revenue to the county over its 50-year term, based on the venture's rent. Land rent of $2.50 a square foot comes to about $197,832 in the first year, the file says, and at least $20 million over the term. The venture has paid that land rent since Aug. 1, 2023, the memo says.

Once the hotel opens, which the file expected in year four, the venture pays the greater of two amounts. One is a $2.5 million yearly minimum that rises with consumer prices. The other is 3.5% of gross revenue. The file expects the minimum to total at least $220 million. These are payments to the county, not profits.

What the county might owe

The memo says the airport and the venture discussed the developers' costs and a possible end to the lease in August and September. The airport received the venture's report of its costs on Oct. 5, and its Program Controls team is reviewing it. The memo gives no dollar amount. Miami Today said the developers filed "a 1,000-page document listing their costs that they hope to recover from the airport." At the Oct. 6 meeting, Cutié said there "may be some incurred costs" the county is on the hook for, Miami Today reported.

The lease's Article 2.09 lets the county end it for airport purposes "or any other purpose determined by the Board." If that happens before construction is done, the county pays the construction costs it accepts within 120 days. That acceptance "may be subject to negotiations by the parties," the lease says.

Article 2.08 covers FAA review of the deal. It says "No compensation of any sort shall be payable" to the venture if the county voids the agreement or leases the site to someone else. The same goes if the two sides cannot agree on a revised deal that meets the FAA's concerns. The memo and the outlets we read do not say which clause would govern a payment.

Commissioner Oliver Gilbert pushed back at the meeting, Bisnow reported. "I think it's odd that we'd be in the business of paying for incurred cost because somebody else submitted a proposal that they can't build," he said. Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez told airport staff, "On this one, you guys dropped the ball," Miami Today reported.

How the hotel stalled

On Jan. 7, 2025, the FAA found the proposed building would interfere with the airport's surveillance radar by creating a 3-degree blind spot, the memo says. It capped the height at 121 feet, 29 feet below the 150-foot design. The venture said the cap "would substantially affect the hotel's layout, amenities, and financial viability." On April 15, 2025, it sent a formal force majeure notice citing circumstances beyond its control.

The airport gave the venture six more months to start building on May 5, 2025, and another 12 months on March 20, 2026. The March letter said no more extensions would be granted unless new qualifying circumstances arose. The FAA approved a revised design on Jan. 29, 2026, but the venture "continued to express concerns regarding the project's feasibility," the memo says.

On June 11, 2026, the venture offered another site near the Central Terminal, with three rooftop helipads and a preliminary count of 532 rooms. On Aug. 19, the airport said that site could not be considered because it conflicts with airport projects. Moving the hotel would be a material change needing the commission's approval, the airport said.

A rival wants the site

Milian-Orbis said at the Oct. 6 meeting that her office had received an unsolicited proposal from Parmco Airport Holdings LLC. The airport received the unsigned proposal on Oct. 7. Parmco did not submit the $25,000 application fee that county code and state law require, or other required papers, so "the proposal cannot be considered at this time," the memo says. Parmco's letter proposes a 231-room select-service hotel on the same site. The letter says Parmco "is led by Simon Falic." It says Parmco's "predecessor company ranked first in qualifications and ultimately second overall" in the original bidding.

Their side

Neither Related Ross nor Fontainebleau Development responded to Bisnow's requests for comment. Bisnow reported that Ross and Soffer "decided to scrap the plans altogether," and Miami Today said the team "is exiting." The county's records give the venture's case: the FAA's height cap hurt the hotel's layout, amenities and finances, and the venture formally cited circumstances beyond its control. We found no statement from the developers on the Taxi Lot.

Sources we read

Miami-Dade County: the mayor's Oct. 16, 2026 memo on the new hotel at Miami International Airport, with its attachments; the 2023 award file, Legistar file 230935, with the lease. Bisnow, Oct. 9. Miami Today, Oct. 13. Forbes, read Oct. 27.