A South Florida college board is appealing a judge’s ruling Temporarily ban officials From giving away a piece of prime real estate in downtown Miami to use for future President Donald Trump Presidential Library.
Attorneys for the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees filed a notice of appeal in Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal on Tuesday, challenging a lower court order blocking the transfer of the property — at least for now.
Last month, Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz sided with a Miami activist who claimed college officials violated Florida’s open government law when they granted a large parcel of land to the state. Republican governor Ron DeSantis Other top Florida officials then voted in favor Transfer of ownership To the basis for Planned library.
He introduced Marvin Dunn, an activist and historian of local black history The suit Arguing that the College Board violated the Florida Board of Regents Government in the Sunshine Act By not giving sufficient notice to hold its own meeting on September 23, when it voted to cede the land.
The nearly 3-acre (1.2-hectare) property is a developer’s dream and is valued at more than $67 million, according to a 2025 appraisal conducted by a Miami-Dade County property appraiser. One real estate expert bet that the parcel — one of the last undeveloped parcels on a landmark stretch of palm-lined Biscayne Boulevard — could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Both parties are expected to appear before a Miami-Dade judge again on Nov. 24, when the college’s attorneys plan to ask that court to stay its proceedings, pending appeals court review.
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Kate Payne is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.