Developer selected for Miami Seaquarium; park slated to ‘temporarily’ close in ‘late 2025′

MIAMI — The trustee for the creditors of the bankrupt Miami Seaquarium has selected a developer to transform the site.

Terra Group, a developer based in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood, has been selected to take over the site, pending approval from a bankruptcy court and county commissioners.

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A “frequently asked questions” document obtained Friday states the company “provided the highest and best offer.”

What’s planned?

“Terra’s proposal contemplates substantial investment in, and renovation of, the Seaquarium to modernize it in a manner that respects the history of the site and is consistent with applicable laws and regulations,” the document stated.

Document:

The plans call for replacing the Seaquarium with a new “accredited aquarium” without marine mammals, along with “immersive” aquatic experiences, an education and conservation center, marina facilities, waterfront “wellness spaces,” marine-focused retail and dining, landscaped greenspace and a public baywalk.

The iconic Buckminster Fuller dome would be preserved and repurposed as an event venue, according to the document.

“As part of the transition, Miami Seaquarium will temporarily cease operations in late 2025,” a Terra statement reads. “Miami Seaquarium will be closed to the public on a date to be announced, and all the animals will be transitioned to a new home.

“Through this process, the Company and its management team are firmly committed to protecting its employees’ interests, including wages and benefits, and ensuring all animals continue to receive safe, attentive care.”

Terra had been competing with another firm, Integra Investments, to redevelop the Virginia Key site.

County officials react

In a joint statement posted to social media platform X, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who represents Virginia Key, called the agreement a “major step forward for Miami-Dade County” that “open(s) a new chapter in marine life education and Biscayne Bay preservation.”

“It will also create a vibrant community destination where residents and visitors alike can enjoy the Bay, access boating opportunities, and experience family-friendly entertainment and amenities,” the statement reads. “Additionally, it continues to preserve our natural resources and prioritize our commitment to environmental resiliency.”

Regalado, speaking with Local 10 News on Friday, said the announced late 2025 closure date is “aspirational,” citing the permitting involved for moving the animals, along with the involvement of regulatory bodies like the USDA.

Owing to this, she said the closure could actually come at the start of 2026.

She told Local 10 News that she and county officials wanted a facility with no marine mammals, but one that “honors the history of the Miami Seaquarium and the nostalgia behind that for our community.”

“We don’t want animals performing,” she said. “We want interactions with animals, but we want those interactions to be wholesome, resilient and based on the well-being of those animals.”

She also said keeping the Seaquarium’s dome is a must for any redevelopment.

Regalado laid out some of the next steps.

“We’re going to be working with the developer now to negotiate the county’s terms,” she said. “We’re a creditor, right? So, we’re in a different situation now, but then we’re going to be talking about the county’s terms and what the county would get. And what I’m asking for is for the rent to be increased and to go to our parks department.”

Regalado said the county parks department “is in desperate need of more funding.”

Decades of history and shifting public opinion

Since opening on county-owned land on Virginia Key in 1955, the Seaquarium has been part of a shared collective memory for generations of families.

But in recent years, there has been a shift in how people view marine mammals in captivity.

The death of Lolita, the beloved orca and oldest in captivity, before plans to release her to the ocean could be realized, further fueled scrutiny.

A string of searing U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection reports documented animal welfare violations and repeated facility failures.

A February 2024 USDA report stated that the park had “a single veterinarian” employed to care for “the 46 marine mammals, 50 birds and hundreds of fish, sharks and rays housed at the facility.”

Expert: Heavy losses underpinned park’s uncertain future

Those issues placed the current operator, The Dolphin Company, in financial distress.

“As you can see in this filing, they are losing money every month,” Andrew Dawson, a bankruptcy law professor at the University of Miami, told Local 10 News a few hours prior to the Terra announcement. “The losses are piling up and this is an important thing for the judge to keep in mind.”

Those losses have totaled $1.5 million over five months, according to court documents. The park lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars in August alone.

Miami-Dade County moved to terminate the lease and evict the operator.

But that high-profile landlord-tenant fight between the county and MS Leisure Company, a Dolphin Company subsidiary, stalled when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after inheriting the already-aging park.

“The Seaquarium has about $30 million in debts,” Dawson said. “The court is saying, like, ‘How can we put this in the hands of someone with a high enough value that those claims will actually get paid out?’”

Now, the Seaquarium’s lease is up for sale as the company searches for someone willing to buy the physical assets on the property and step into the lease.

“The company will have a chance to try to come up with some plan that will maximize the value of their assets, including the lease,” Dawson said, calling it similar to a class action settlement. “The judge has to approve it because there are so many people who have an interest in this — creditors, the county itself, and others impacted.”

Court filings say the Seaquarium has 103 employees who will be paid during bankruptcy proceedings.

“What exactly happens to those jobs after a sale would depend on the terms of the sale itself and what the buyer intends to do,” Dawson explained.

“There are two aspects to this,” Dawson said. “One is that you have to keep taking care of the animals, which is a big expense. (These are) not like machines that you can just shutter, like unplug, and that is part of the cost of operating this business during the bankruptcy, is keeping it open.”

He added, “The court is also going to have to make sure that whatever the plan is, to take the next step to this location, there is going to have to be some plan that complies with other relevant laws that might deal with the animals themselves.”

Dawson said a Chapter 11 bankruptcy “can only help a business that has a viable model.”

“If you don’t have a business model that is actually going to make profits, there is nothing bankruptcy can do,” he said. “The best bankruptcy can do at that point is give it breathing space to figure out who can make more money with this particular group of assets.”

Dawson said if the proposal has been fully briefed and all stakeholders have had a chance to be heard, the court could rule quickly. If not, the process may take longer.

The Seaquarium is “an amazing location,” he said; the question is, “Who could actually put that to a higher and better value that would maximize the return to everybody who is owed a claim?”

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