What began as a routine authorization to hand Miami City Ballet roughly 2,248 square feet of city-leased space for one dollar a year ended Wednesday in a pointed exchange about executive compensation, inspector general findings, and who actually benefits when the city subsidizes one of its most prominent cultural institutions.
From $1 Deal to Market Rate
City Manager Eric Carpenter brought the item forward as a straightforward solution to a real problem: the Ballet's 64,000-square-foot headquarters at 2200 Liberty Avenue is undergoing phased renovations funded by the voter-approved $159 million G.O. Bond for Arts & Cultural Facilities — including $12 million earmarked for the Ballet — and construction has squeezed available studio space for younger students. The ground floor of The Anamar, directly across the street, had sat vacant since the city's 2024 competitive procurement failed to attract a viable long-term nonprofit tenant. The administration proposed a nine-month sublease at $1, with up to three monthly renewals at the city's option.
Carpenter noted the urgency plainly: "Their classes were hoping to start this week," he told commissioners, adding that the idle space represented "a good opportunity to create a win-win for both us and them."
OIG Report and the Ballet Bus
Commissioner Laura Dominguez pulled the item after commissioners learned the Office of the Inspector General had sent Miami City Ballet a preliminary report raising questions about its public benefit obligations — findings the Ballet has had an opportunity to respond to but that don't appear to have been finalized or made public yet. She also flagged the discontinuation of the "ballet bus," a program that had transported roughly 35 to 40 underserved Miami Beach children to dance classes alongside tuition-paying students. "I don't want to give anything for free unless we're going to get things that are going to help the community," Dominguez said, asking staff to negotiate the program's return as a condition of any lease.
Commissioner David Suarez went further, questioning the premise of subsidized rent for an organization reporting $3.7 million in net income and $60 million in net assets in 2025, with one departing artistic director's compensation logged at $769,000 and an executive director salary topping $367,000. "I just can't really stomach the fact that these directors are making some of them close to a million dollars, and we're subsidizing this," Suarez said.
Scott Altman, who identified himself as the Ballet's new executive director — eight weeks into the job — initially responded by pointing to the organization's expanded programming, saying community engagement has grown from roughly 15,000 to 20,000 participants annually, and expressed genuine enthusiasm for reviving the ballet bus while declining to commit to it on the spot. "I simply don't know what I would be promising to," he said, "and it would be irresponsible." He didn't address the salary figures until after the commission had already moved to approve the item, when Suarez circled back and asked him point-blank whether $367,000 was his salary. Altman clarified that the figure — and the $769,000 cited for the artistic director — belonged to prior leadership that has "been right-sized considerably," and confirmed only when pressed further that his own salary is $400,000.
What's Next
Rather than defer or approve the original $1 deal, the commission voted 7-0 to direct the administration to negotiate a month-to-month agreement at market rate — staff estimated roughly $45 to $55 per square foot annually for the 2,248-square-foot space, or about $8,400 to $10,300 a month. Those terms, along with any negotiated public benefit commitments tied to the ballet bus program, will return to the full commission for ratification before any longer arrangement is finalized.
