It may be a buyer's market, but that's no reason for Riviera Beach, Fla., to give away its waterfront. Yet that's exactly what city leaders are poised to do on Tuesday when they take up contracts for marina redevelopment. For years, Riviera Beach has been on the verge of the economic turnaround that is the promise of long-elusive waterfront redevelopment. But what started out five years ago as a lavish, $2.4 billion project with shops, restaurants, condos, a hotel, aquarium and marina has become a $59 million boat yard, with a few trinkets to appease residents ticked off that a third of their public marina is being handed over to the son of a billionaire. Rybovich is owned by H. Wayne Huizenga Jr., son of the former Miami Dolphins owner. The company wants to lease 6 acres of the city's marina at a huge discount to service mega-yachts. The city acts as if Rybovich -- which is promising all of 35 jobs -- is a prince on a white horse riding in to save the day. On the contrary, the boat maker is treating Riviera Beach like a stepchild. Here's the gist of the proposed deal: Riviera Beach would give up a third of the city's most valuable property for 20 years at half-price. Rybovich would bring jobs that might or might not go to Riviera Beach residents, since the company hasn't committed to anything in writing. More than half a million square feet of marina property would be devoted to Rybovich's new boat yard and marine-related businesses, none of which is likely to attract the average tourist or resident. The Port of Palm Beach would get a 150,000-square-foot hotel and a 400-car parking garage for cruise ship passengers. If Riviera Beach didn't build the garage, Rybovich would get to walk away. Of the 1.5-million-square-foot project, only 35,000 would go to retail and mixed use. Another 50,000 square feet would be for a public market. And 8,000 square feet would go to a new restaurant. These new entities would join the Tiki Bar and a refurbished Bicentennial Park and Newcomb Hall as the elements that supposedly would make International Harbor at Riviera Beach a tourist mecca. Don't hold your breath. By comparison, Boca Raton, Fla.'s Mizner Park, which at 835,000 square feet is slightly more than half the size of Riviera Beach's project, has 235,000 square feet of retail. A third of the shoppers at Mizner Park -- a public-private, mixed-use development of the sort that International Harbor is supposed to be -- are tourists. The project has added millions to Boca Raton's tax roll. Granted, Riviera Beach is not Boca Raton. Still, the city's coveted waterfront has the potential to do for Riviera Beach what Mizner Park did for Boca Raton, but only if it's developed right. That means city officials must recognize the value of the marina and demand fair terms for its development. They should hire an experienced community redevelopment director who can do a better job negotiating those terms. Next, they should hire a permanent attorney for the community redevelopment agency. J. Michael Haygood, the CRA's interim general counsel for the past four years, submitted a March invoice for nearly $12,000 for 44.25 hours mostly spent on the marina deal. Project manager Arnold Broussard, a Lake Worth, Fla.-based consultant, billed the city $9,900 in March for his work. For what they're getting paid, these guys should have negotiated a deal that at the very least guarantees that jobs would go to city residents. That the city would get top dollar for its prime real estate. And that significantly more square footage would go to businesses that would draw tourists and locals and increase the tax base. Isn't that the whole point of the project? To put cash in the city's coffers? People, and companies, treat us the way we allow them to. On Tuesday, the citizens of Riviera Beach will see exactly how their elected leaders believe they deserve to be treated -- with respect, or like suckers. Rhonda Swan writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: rhonda(underscore)swan@pbpost.com. 