4830, "Joint Resolution Providing for Construction of Modern Seaport Facilities at Dodge Island Site" was approved by the Dade County Board of Commissioners.

[12] The port is officially named after Florida House of Representatives member Dante Fascell, who served for four decades from 1955 to 1993, and died in 1998.

[15] In April 2019, the Miami-Dade Tourism and Ports Committee approved a deal for Royal Caribbean Cruises to build a new office and parking garage on Dodge Island.

[citation needed] On June 28, 2016, Royal Caribbean Group announced plans for a new 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) facility that would redevelop "Terminal A" at PortMiami.

[32][31] Prior to August 2019, "Terminal H" was primarily occupied by FRS Caribbean, which operated a ferry service between Miami and Bimini in the Bahamas.

[38][23] However, in July 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic repercussions, PortMiami issued a new proposal that accommodates MSC's difficulties in receiving financing for the project by amending the ground lease, while also granting the port additional time to prepare the site for the project prior to turning over the premises to MSC.

[39] Additionally, in an effort to reduce costs for its expansion projects, the port issued an accompanying resolution requiring the new MSC complex to share facilities with Disney Cruise Line, and will require Miami-Dade County to establish a new berthing rights agreement with Disney Cruise Line based on the proposal.

[4] As part of the massive PortMiami redevelopment program, new ultramodern cruise terminals, roadways and parking garages have been constructed.

This, along with the planned Deep Dredge Project, would make it possible for PortMiami to facilitate even the future largest containerships in the world, the Maersk Triple E Class.

The new and restructured roadway system with new lighting, landscaping and signage greets visitors to the 'Cruise Capital of the World and Cargo Gateway of the Americas'.

And to enhance cargo port accessibility, the newly constructed Security Gates opened at the end of 2006 to increase the processing rate for container trucks and help eliminate the daily traffic backups.

The plans were proposed by a group, led by David Beckham, seeking to bring a Major League Soccer team to Miami.

[46] The group has stated that they would fund such a stadium privately, but there has been opposition on multiple grounds, including the added traffic to downtown Miami and the impact on wildlife.

In 2011, PortMiami was awarded a federal grant, as part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, to restore a connection between the Florida East Coast Railway's yard in Hialeah and PortMiami, directly connecting the port to rail networks across the United States,[47] as well as re-establishing the port's on-dock rail capability (loading and unloading directly between ships and trains).

[50] The rail project is related to another scheme to increase PortMiami's capacity; an inland intermodal center, known as Flagler Logistics Hub, to be built near the airport on 300 acres of land in Hialeah.

[51] There was some opposition to the railroad line being returned to service, with claims that it would be as much of a problem to downtown traffic as container trucks, and that the noise would be a disturbance to nearby residents.

[53] The current plan is for the line to be strictly for intermodal services, with the project including a rail yard and station at the port.

[56] However, this was partially due to a decrease in other freight traffic caused by the 2008 recession, which reduced the number of trains, many carrying rock aggregate used in construction, from about 20 to 14 per day.

[57] There was a plan to start a passenger service connecting Jacksonville to Miami using the FECR mainline, with stops at popular tourist attractions.

In April 2011, Atlas Railroad Construction was chosen to rebuild the line, which was to be completed by 2012 and was estimated to remove 5% of the road traffic from the port.

[59] On July 15, 2011, a ground-breaking ceremony marking the beginning of the rail link project, which is expected to create over 800 jobs and generate $33.38 million in wages, was performed by US Senator Bill Nelson, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez, and Miami city mayor Tomás Regalado.