Miami Dade College’s board of trustees is hitting the reset button on a land giveaway for Donald Trump’s planned $950 million presidential library and high-rise complex next to downtown Miami’s Freedom Tower, bowing to a legal challenge that accused the school’s leaders of skirting Florida’s open-government rules.
The board will hold a newly noticed public meeting and second vote on transferring the nearly 3-acre prime parcel at 500-540 Biscayne Boulevard to the state, the Miami Herald reported. The vote will take place on Dec. 2, Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega said.
Earlier this month, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz temporarily blocked the college from conveying the land to the state as a result of a lawsuit filed last month by historian and activist Marvin Dunn.
In his complaint, Dunn alleged trustees violated Florida’s Sunshine Law by failing to clearly disclose which parcel was on the line and that it was intended for Trump’s presidential library when they unanimously approved the transfer on Sept. 23. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet subsequently voted to give the property to the foundation spearheading the presidential library project, which is led by Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, Michael Boulos — husband of Tiffany Trump — and presidential attorney James Kiley.
Ruiz had also recently set a trial date for August. Faced with the prospect of a monthslong court battle, board chair Michael Bileca told the Miami Herald it made more sense to hold a new vote than remain tied up in litigation.
Valued at about $67 million by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser, the 3-acre parcel is one of the few remaining undeveloped sites in downtown Miami. Real estate analysts said the property — surrounded by luxury condo towers, two museums and two waterfront parks — could fetch several times its assessed value if sold on the open market.
— Francisco Alvarado
