Margaret Pace Park Improvements in Edgewater: What Phase 1 Funds

The City of Miami's project page for Margaret Pace Park Phase 1 still prints two words in bold: "design only." For most of the time residents have been going to workshops about this park, that phrase described the budget. In September, the money behind the plan changed, even though the page has not been updated.

Phase 1 is now funded, and it is built around the bay. The seawall, the baywalk and a kayak launch come first. The open lawn and the sand volleyball courts, the two features residents ranked highest in the city's own survey, are not in this phase. For anyone who uses the park at 1745 N Bayshore Drive every week, that changes what the next few years look like.

Two Votes in Fourteen Days

The funding went through two boards in quick succession:

1. September 10, 2026. The Omni CRA board adopted Resolution CRA-R-26-0047. It set aside up to $10 million for Phase 1 from the agency's Series 2026 bond proceeds.
2. September 21, 2026. The South Florida Business Journal reported the proposed investment. It described the money as covering shoreline stabilization, a kayak launch and other waterfront work.
3. September 24, 2026. The Miami City Commission adopted Resolution R-26-0440. It authorizes the City Manager to accept the funds. District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo sponsored it.

The park's share is part of a much larger bond issue. A Miami-Dade County legislative file describes the Omni CRA's Series 2026 bonds as capped at $150 million. The money is meant to cover parks and recreation, streets and other infrastructure, housing, public safety facilities and commercial grants across the redevelopment area. Margaret Pace Park got one dedicated piece of that, and the City had already decided where that piece would go.

What Phase 1 Pays For

The City's project page describes Phase 1 mainly as a resiliency project. Capital Improvements is working with the Parks Department on a green shoreline stabilization plan. The plan also adds water access for non-motorized boats and reworks the walkways around the park. The page lists these elements:

• Seawall and shoreline stabilization, with architectural, civil and coastal landscape work
• A kayak launch and site furnishings
• Reef arches, with irrigation tied in
• Better wayfinding signage

The Commission resolution describes the same phase a little more broadly. It covers the baywalk and shoreline, landscaping and more tree canopy, accessibility work, exercise equipment, furnishings, fountains and benches.

Neither list mentions tennis courts, the volleyball courts, the playground or the dog area. This round of money is for the edge of the park, where Edgewater meets Biscayne Bay.

What Neighbors Asked For, and Where It Landed

The City held community meetings on November 20, 2024 and February 24, 2025. The February 2025 presentation summarizes what residents said in 2024, in four groups:

• Use of space. Keep a balance between open space and programmed areas, shrink the building footprint, cut down on conflicts between different users, and keep flexible space.
• Facilities. Add tennis and volleyball and put shade over the playground. Residents raised concerns about pickleball and a splash pad.
• Environment. Keep natural turf, add tree canopy, add rain gardens and bioswales, and manage dog waste and leash rules.
• Safety and maintenance. Improve lighting, make it safer to cross N. Bayshore Drive, handle trash better, and add more security presence.

A facility ranking chart in the same deck shows open lawn and sand volleyball at the top, with the splash pad and pickleball at the bottom. Here is how those requests line up with what Phase 1 covers:

The plan changed direction between the two meetings. In the deck's own comparison, the 2024 plan focused on "Space Optimization & Facility Enhancements" and put volleyball, pickleball and basketball first. The 2025 plan moved to "Climate Resilience & Flood Mitigation," with balanced programs and a first phase built around the baywalk. The 2024 plan had no clear phasing. The 2025 plan has "Phase 1 (Baywalk) with Funding."

So the money follows the 2025 plan. Residents' top two picks, the lawn and volleyball, are not part of this phase. The amenities people were most wary of, pickleball and a splash pad, are not coming either. The lawn people use today will look the same while the work happens along the seawall.

The Park as It Runs This Fall

Because Phase 1 is focused on the shoreline, the park's regular uses are not part of this first spending round. The City's parks directory lists basketball, a dog park, outdoor gym equipment, a playground, tennis courts, volleyball, walking trails, waterfront access and youth programs.

The Sunday farmers market is the park's newest weekly routine. Biscayne Times reported in May 2026 that East Coast Marketplace started it in 2025 with the City and District 2. The paper described free booths for nonprofits, a Young Makers Hub for children, and regular vendors including Craave House. The organizer's current listing says Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free and open to the public. Biscayne Times printed 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in May, so check the organizer's page before you go.

The next neighborhood association event at the park is eleven days out. The Biscayne Neighborhoods Association has a Trunk or Treat at the park on Friday, October 23, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., with a movie at sundown. The BNA says more details are still to come.

A few blocks west is a newer stop. The Infatuation wrote up Pharos in August. It is a dessert truck inside a padel club at 1739 NE 2nd Ave, close enough to fit into a Sunday at the market.

The parks directory amenities, the market and the BNA's park events are all outside what Phase 1 funds. For now, the funding changes when and how the shoreline gets rebuilt, not how the rest of the park is used.

Why There Is No Construction Date Yet

Nobody has published a firm schedule. Three sources point in different directions:

• The City's February 2025 deck shows a Phase 1 timeline running through spring 2027 and labels it "tentative." Its action plan says the City was moving forward with design and permitting.
• Groundbreak, a third-party project tracker, estimated in October 2026 that construction would start December 31, 2026 and finish December 31, 2028. Those are the tracker's estimates. The City has not committed to them.
• The City's Phase 1 page still says design only, even after the September votes.

The older dates are no longer useful. In 2023, Biscayne Times reported a Phase 1 forecast that put construction in 2023 and completion by the first quarter of 2026. Later City planning replaced that schedule.

What changed in September is the money. Phase 1 is no longer only a design exercise. The resolution also authorizes the City Manager to negotiate and sign the documents needed to accept the funds. The City's Phase 1 page, which still says "design only," is the place to watch for a construction notice.

If you own along N. Bayshore Drive, or are deciding whether to buy or sell near the bay, a multi-year shoreline project next door affects how you think about timing. Khosh Bosh Real Estate follows Edgewater's public projects closely and can walk you through what the Margaret Pace Park work could mean for your plans. Book a Consultation and we will go over it with you.