City Commission Workshop on Proposed Space for City Staff and Innovation Center - November 5, 2025
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City Commission Workshop on Proposed Space for City Staff and Innovation Center - November 5, 2025
The Miramar City Commission held a workshop on November 5, 2025, at 5:00 PM to discuss re-purposing approximately 21,100 square feet of space on the second floor of the Miramar Library. This space became available after the City and Broward College executed a sublease termination agreement at the October 15, 2025 commission meeting, ending Broward College's leasehold and extinguishing future reimbursement obligations. The city is now fully responsible for the annual operational cost of about $80,000. City staff presented conceptual plans to relocate several critical-need departments (Economic Development & Housing (EDH), Marketing, and Support Services) into the space and to create a Miramar Innovation Center for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Commissioners discussed the balance between staff needs, revenue generation, and the scope of the proposed innovation center, ultimately agreeing to hold a dedicated workshop on the innovation center concept.
Discussion Items
- Space Overview & Cost Flow: Sean Hennessy explained that the county invoices the city under the master lease, the city pays, then seeks reimbursement from Broward College and Nova Southeastern University (NSU). With the sublease termination, those reimbursements end. The second floor has approximately 21,100 sq ft with existing classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, and common areas. Parking includes 160 on-site surface spots and 190 reserved spaces in the Miramar Town Center Garage.
- Critical Needs for City Staff: City administration identified cramped and inadequate office conditions for several departments, including EDH, marketing, support services, parks and recreation, utilities, and others. They proposed an initial phase relocating EDH, marketing, and support services to the new space, using existing move-in-ready classrooms with minimal renovation costs (primarily cubicles, furniture, and IT security).
- Miramar Innovation Center Proposal: The city previously conducted a feasibility study for an innovation center/incubator, which was cost-prohibitive. The available second floor offers a prime location adjacent to the library and NSU access. The original concept for a 900 sq ft space could now potentially double to 1,800 sq ft. Staff emphasized that the programming (e.g., the existing Miramar Business Academy) is already underway and the space would provide a physical home for small business support, entrepreneur pipelines, and training.
- Commissioner Perspectives:
- Vice Mayor Colbourne asked about renting space elsewhere (fire prevention rented off-site) and requested after-hours access for staff, which staff confirmed would use badge/code systems separate from the library. She requested a future workshop on the innovation center.
- Commissioner Cherasard asked about the annual operational cost ($80,000) and whether the innovation center and small business incubator could coexist in one space. She questioned if 100% of the space is needed for staff or if some could be flexibly used for community training. Staff indicated staff needs may require most of the space but some flex areas could be incorporated.
- Commissioner Edwards asked about revenue loss from the sublease (none, it was a wash). He also asked about possible revenue generation from the innovation center, and staff said that would be addressed in the workshop. He emphasized using the space for forward-thinking innovation and revenue generation aligned with the mayor's 10-year vision.
- Commissioner Chambers expressed skepticism about the innovation center, citing past city projects (cultural center, amphitheater) that did not generate expected revenue. He suggested the space be used as a rental banquet hall to generate revenue, or that the city set aside funds for residents to use NSU's innovation technology center. He also emphasized the need to partner with Broward County Schools to start technology education early. He stated history supports his cautious positions.
- Mayor Messam responded by noting that the innovation center's space is already built out with minimal additional costs, that NSU's center is highly utilized, and that the city should create its own programming (fee-based) to serve Miramar residents and businesses. He disagreed with characterizations of the amphitheater's issues, attributing them to operational contracts. He stressed that the programming is the key, not the name.
Key Outcomes
- Consensus to Schedule a Future Workshop: The commission unanimously agreed to hold a separate workshop to further define the Miramar Innovation Center/incubator concept, including costs, programming, and potential revenue models.
- Staff to Proceed with Initial Space Planning: Staff will continue internal meetings with IT and vendors to assess security, furniture, and cubicle needs for relocating EDH, marketing, and support services. No specific timeline was set, but it is expected to be relatively quick given the move-in-ready condition.
- No Formal Votes: The workshop was informational and no resolutions or motions were made. Discussion will continue at the upcoming innovation center workshop.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. This meeting is being streamed live at Miramar FL.gov slash commission meeting and televised on Comcast Channel Seventy Six and A TNT Channel Nine and Nine for all Uverse Channel Nine and Nine Subscribers. The meeting of the Miramar City Commission workshop is now called to order. We'll discuss the issue why we are here. Then Mr. Sean Hennessy will have a brief overview of the cost flow and reimbursement, followed by the termination context. As well, he'll give an overview of facility facts. We'll then move into city staff office, followed by the Miramar Innovation Center, and then next steps, and we're hopeful to have an open and fruitful discussion. So with that, I'll begin to kind of paint the picture as of hard as why we are here. The last commission meeting, October 15th, the City Commission and Brow College executed a sublease termination agreement, which pretty much uh with that document, it assumed the full possession of the second floor within the library of bringing it back to the city of Miramar. So the purpose of this workshop is to go over conceptual design, conceptual plans and to have a brief overall discussion as far as a reprogramming of the space within the second floor. As uh administration, we've realized some critical needs for this space, and we're just hoping to have an open dialogue. At this time, I have Mr. A brief overview of the cost flow and how things get paid. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Mr. Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, City Staff. My name is Sean Hennessy. I work alongside DeBon Campbell out of the office of the city manager. As you've heard tonight, I'd like to go over the cost flow and reimbursement process in three easy steps. The county invoices the city of Miramar under the Master Lease. We, the City of Miramar, pay the county to come to maintain compliance with the master lease, sublease section nine. And then we invoice Broward College and Nova Southeastern University for their prorated shares, which include parking, maintenance, and insurance. As we all know, we executed the sublease termination agreement last commission meeting, and this ends Browers College's leasehold rights and extinguishes all future reimbursement obligations. The city is now fully responsible for the financial cost of the second floor moving forward. On your screen, you have a floor plan of the second floor with the square foot for each respected space. The area boasts an approximately 21,100 square foot of space with a configuration of mixed classrooms, offices, and meeting rooms. Picture to your right, we have the existing build out. Again, approximately 10 to 12 enclosed offices and administrative spaces, six large classrooms as seen in the last slide, four training areas that are reconfigurable and common hallways and lounge. As far as access to the building, it is shared. We share an elevator and a stairwell with the library. And as far as parking is concerned, there are 160 on-site surface lot spaces during non-peak library hours. And over at the Miramar Town Center Garage, there are additional 190 spaces reserved for that second floor space. With that, I'd like to say thank you and return it over to Mr. Campbell. Thank you, Mr. Hennessy, for your overview. And that also includes our city staff. City administration has identified key critical areas as it relates to adequate of providing adequate office space for our staff. As you can see from the pictures above, you'll see a park and recreation office with some storage. And next to that picture, you'll see a stairwell that has temporary storage. These stairwells are common throughout the city here in town center. And again, it's a critical need that we see throughout town center. We are proposing to move a few departments into the newly unoccupied space. We have identified a few departments such as EDH marketing and support services in the initial phase to relocate into the space. From staff productivity to improving collaboration among staff and more importantly to boost morale. The next picture is a group of parks and recreational staff. Just to highlight some other critical needs. Right now we have areas such as uh utilities, um EDH staff, and even city city managers office staff within the uh building department area. So again, relieving of this space and having these departments move into move into the second floor would would greatly benefit the city. This next slide shows a rendering of what this space could look like.
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