Margaret Pace Park's Phase 1 Keeps Growing on Paper, and It Still Starts at the Bay Edge

What does $10 million buy at a bayfront park that has been in design since 2023? At Margaret Pace Park, the answer has changed with each document the City of Miami has published. The scope of Phase 1 has grown from a seawall job to something closer to a full refresh of the park's eastern half. One thing hasn't changed: every version starts where the grass meets Biscayne Bay.

On September 10, 2026, the Omni CRA board voted 4–0 to grant up to $10 million from its Series 2026 bond proceeds to the City for Phase 1 of the Margaret Pace Park Improvement Project. The City side of the handoff, Resolution R-26-0440, is sponsored by District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo. It was listed on the Miami City Commission agenda for Thursday, September 24, 2026. As of September 30, the City's legislative portal still shows a blank final-action date for the item, and no vote has been posted.

So the money has been offered and the acceptance is pending. Comparing the plan documents side by side tells you more than either step alone.

Three versions of the same first phase

The park at 1745 N. Bayshore Drive has had its master plan presented more than once. Biscayne Times covered one version at an August 10, 2023 unveiling. The City presented a revised conceptual master plan on November 20, 2024, then reviewed revised drawings with the community on February 24, 2025. The September 2026 resolution is the latest description, and it reads differently from the ones before it.

The 2023 finish target of Q1 2026 has already passed with the project still in design. That's the starting point for any timeline talk now. The 2023 article's later phases, including a community center projected for late 2026 through 2028, belong to an earlier plan and shouldn't be read as the current schedule.

The bigger change is in the last row. The City's project page frames Phase 1 as resiliency and shoreline stabilization. It says the Office of Capital Improvements and the Parks Department are designing a "green shoreline stabilization plan" with water access for non-motorized boats and revised walkways. The resolution adds exercise equipment, fountains, benches, tree canopy and accessibility work to that list. The project page is undated and still says "design only," so it doesn't show whether that status reflects the September 2026 allocation.

What the bay edge would actually gain

The February 2025 presentation gives the most physical detail. The 1,700 feet of coastal protection runs longer than the 1,500-foot Baywalk, so the plan protects more shoreline than it paves for walking. The three outfall retrofits address the points where drainage meets the bay. The three overlooks and a small beach change how people reach the water. The Baywalk is specified as permeable, meaning water can drain through the walking surface.

The kayak launch is the one item that shows up in every recent description, from the 2025 deck to the City page to Axios's September 23, 2026 summary of the funding proposal. The City's parks directory lists the waterfront as a feature but doesn't list a boat launch among the amenities. The City page describes the launch as water access for residents using non-motorized vessels.

The reef arches on the City's list are part of the green stabilization approach. The project page pairs them with irrigation integration and doesn't say more about them. Wayfinding signage rounds out the list.

What the community said it wanted, and where that sits

The same February 2025 deck recorded how meeting participants ranked the park's facilities. On its scale, a lower average means a higher priority.

1. Open lawn, 3.0
2. Sand volleyball, 3.0
3. Native habitat, 3.6
4. Playground, 4.0
5. Tennis, fitness area and dog area, each 4.4
6. Basketball, 4.9
7. Splash pad, 9.4
8. Pickleball, 10.0

Open lawn and volleyball tied for highest priority. Splash pad and pickleball came in far below everything else. Pickleball's average was more than three times the lawn's. The same 2025 deck shows a plan built around the Baywalk.

Set that list against the September 2026 resolution and the overlap is partial. Native habitat lines up with the landscaping and tree-canopy language. The fitness area lines up with the exercise equipment. The lawn and volleyball courts at the top of the list aren't named in any Phase 1 description. That doesn't mean they're at risk. It means Phase 1 is mostly about the waterfront and the paths, while the open middle of the park, where the top-ranked uses happen, is left as it is.

The park as it runs right now

The City's parks directory lists the current amenities: basketball, bathrooms, BBQs, a dog park, outdoor gym equipment, picnic tables, a playground, tennis courts, volleyball, walking trails, the waterfront and youth programs.

Sunday has a fixed anchor now too. East Coast Marketplace launched the Margaret Pace Park farmers market in 2025 with Commissioner Pardo and the City. Biscayne Times identifies Lucia Marinelli as the marketplace's founder. Biscayne Times printed hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the organizer's market page now lists the usual hours as 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Its next listed date is Sunday, October 4, 2026, with the same hours. The organizer's event listing advertises a free market with more than 50 vendors selling food, baked goods, artisan goods, wellness and pet products, plus live music.

No current source has published a closure plan for the dog park, the courts or the Baywalk, and no source mentions moving the market. The one closure plan in print is from 2023, when Biscayne Times reported that the dog park would close for renovation with a temporary dog run, and the playground would stay open, during a later phase of the earlier plan. That plan has since been redrawn, so the arrangement shouldn't be assumed to carry over.

What to watch between now and a shovel

Phase 1 still has several public steps ahead of it:

• The Commission's recorded action on R-26-0440. Watch for whether the City formally accepts the money, and whether it adds any conditions.
• The CRA grant documents. The Omni CRA resolution authorizes its executive director to negotiate and sign the grant documents, so the money still has paperwork to clear after the vote.
• An update to the City's project page. Watch for a change to the "design only" funding status on the Office of Capital Improvements page.
• A construction notice for District 2. The project page sits in the City's construction-notices section for District 2.

The other Omni CRA items approved alongside the park grant show where the agency is spending. They include a new $300,000 public art, mural and placemaking program for property owners, artists, businesses and community groups in the redevelopment area. The park grant is the item tied to one specific place, the Margaret Pace Park shoreline at 1745 N. Bayshore Drive.

If you'd like a clear read on how Margaret Pace Park's waterfront plans could shape the Edgewater towers that face it, Kimberly Rodstein offers private consultations grounded in 25-plus years of watching Biscayne Bay neighborhoods change. Request a private market consultation, and we'll walk through what's on the drawing board and what's already in place.