‘Crazy.’ County officials who brokered PortMiami fuel deal shocked mayor nixed it

After spending months negotiating a pricey purchase of the private fuel yard that keeps PortMiami ships running, two top deputies to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava were shocked when their boss abruptly rejected the deal.

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“Crazy,” Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morales texted Port Director Hydi Webb on June 5 after Levine Cava released a memo calling the Morales and Webb deal too expensive.

The day before, Morales and Webb had been forced to resign over the deal, which reportedly would have had the county-owned port pay roughly $400 million for a fuel facility wedged in the middle of one of the world’s most luxe neighborhoods, Fisher Island.

Condo developers in 2024 had purchased the privately owned fuel yard for $180 million and announced plans to shut it down to build luxury condos, a move that would rob PortMiami cruise ships of their fueling option. PortMiami had failed to try and buy the facility when it went up for sale, and the Levine Cava administration instead had to scramble to block the condo development planned by the new buyer and play catch-up on real estate negotiations.

With a deal seemingly in hand to buy the property from the new owner after months of discussion, Morales and Webb were preparing to brief county commissioners on the terms earlier this summer when Levine Cava announced she was giving it the thumbs down the day after.

“Hi Chief – no words,” Webb wrote back to Morales at 10 a.m. that day, according to the text exchange released to the Miami Herald through a records request. “This is going to be a disaster for the industry and county.”

The records suggest the exchange moved to the telephone, with Webb apologizing for missing a call from Morales. Morales and Webb were not immediately available for comment. Levine Cava’s office declined to comment.

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In an email to fellow members of Levine Cava’s senior staff on June 2, Morales seemed to be rallying the administration for a rough-and-tumble push to win County Commission approval of the deal. Citing recent articles about the controversy, Morales noted: “The battle lines are drawn, and I like the side we’re on.”

Days later, he would be out of his job as Levine Cava’s top deputy. Morales was one of the first hires of her administration shortly after she won the 2020 race for mayor.

In his June 4 resignation email to Levine Cava, Morales called the negotiated deal a good way for Miami-Dade to clean up the fuel-yard problem by purchasing the 10-acre property directly instead of attempting to acquire it through eminent domain, avoiding the uncertainty of a legal fight over what the land was worth.

Because PortMiami relies on cruise and cargo fees to operate, no tax dollars go into the facility, and Miami-Dade would have used revenues from cargo and cruise ships to pay off the loan needed to buy the land from the condo developers.

While the details have not been made public, the deal negotiated by Morales and Webb reportedly would have allowed PortMiami to pay a portion of the acquisition price over a decade or more.

Instead, Levine Cava is now preparing to go to court to seize the fuel yard through an eminent-domain proceeding, a legal step the County Commission approved last month. If successful, a jury would decide how much PortMiami owes the owners of the land. That money would need to be paid immediately.

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