[3][4] On March 25, 2014, David Beckham announced plans to build a 25,000-seat stadium at PortMiami, adjacent to the Miami Heat's American Airlines Arena (now known as Kaseya Center) in the Downtown area of the city.

[5] Under the proposal, the stadium would have been located at the southwest corner of Dodge Island and be accessible by a pedestrian bridge from Biscayne Boulevard and the American Airlines Arena.

[6] On April 8, 2014, Miami-Dade commissioners refused to let PortMiami relocate a fuel-spill facility that would have needed to move in order to accommodate the stadium and entertainment complex.

[7] Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, who had previously proposed developing on the same site,[8] formed the Miami Seaport Alliance (MSA), a coalition of companies and unions based in the port, and led the opposition to the stadium plan.

[11] Beckham's real estate adviser argued that Royal Caribbean opposed the stadium plan because it paid below-market rates on its lease at the port.

Giménez wrote in a letter to Beckham's real estate adviser that "Downtown Miami would greatly benefit" from a waterfront park that included the stadium and pedestrian walkways.

[23] On March 4, 2015, Miami-Dade County commissioners passed a resolution calling on Mayor Gimenez to negotiate with Beckham's group over a county-owned parcel of land on the west side of Marlins Park.

[31] On December 4, 2015, Beckham's group announced it had secured a contract to purchase a privately owned block[32] in Overtown at 650 NW 8th Street[33] near Culmer station, Interstate 95, and the Miami River.

The Overtown site was the fourth proposed location announced by Beckham since the expansion team was awarded to Miami, but this was the first time the group dropped its attempt to avoid paying property taxes by having the city or county serve as the stadium's landlord.

[34] On December 5, the MLS governing board endorsed the location,[35] and on March 24, 2016, it was reported by the Miami Herald that Beckham's group completed the purchase of the privately owned land portion needed for the soccer stadium.

[38] In July 2018, Beckham and Mas unveiled plans for a 25,000-seat stadium as part of Freedom Park, a mixed-use complex at the site of the city-owned Melreese Country Club near the airport.

[41] Owing to concerns over the plan, the PGA Tour Latinoamérica moved the Shell Championship season-ending event from Melreese to Trump National Doral Miami Golden Palm in October 2018.

The $1 billion stadium, hotel, office park, and commercial campus is to be built on 73 acres (30 ha) of city-owned land, currently Melreese golf course.

On August 20, 2019, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez confirmed a recent report that soil contamination at Melreese golf course, the proposed site for the stadium, was far worse than previously thought.