Miami-Dade College’s board of trustees is hitting the reset button on Donald Trump’s plan for a $950 million presidential library and a ground-breaking complex next to downtown Miami’s Freedom Tower, bowing to a legal challenge that accused school leaders of skirting Florida’s open government rules.
According to the Miami Herald, the board will hold a refocused public meeting and second vote on transferring the roughly 33-acre prime parcel at 500-540 Biscayne Boulevard to the state. Miami-Dade College President Madeleine Pomeriga said the vote will take place on Dec. 2.
Earlier this month, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mevel 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 the trustees violated Florida’s Sunshine Law by failing to clearly disclose which parcel was on the line and intended for the Trump 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 OK President, who voted to give the property to the Foundation. Michael Boulos – Tiffany Trump’s husband – and presidential attorney James Kelly.
Ruiz also recently set a trial date for August. Faced with the prospect of a months-long court battle, board chair Michael Blacka told the Miami Herald that it made more sense to have a new vote than to be 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 lots in downtown Miami. The property — surrounded by luxury condo towers, two museums and two waterfront parks — could fetch many times its appraised value if sold on the open market, real estate analysts said.
– Francisco Alvarado
