A Florida judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the planned transfer of prime land in downtown Miami to President Donald Trumpfuture presidential library.
District Judge Mavel Ruiz's decision came after a Miami activist said local college officials violated Florida's open government law when they donated a significant piece of real estate to the state, which then voted to transfer it to a planned development fund. library.
“This is not an easy decision,” Mavel said Tuesday, explaining her ruling from the panel, which found the college failed to notify the public within a reasonable time before last month’s vote.
“This is not a case, at least for this court, rooted in politics,” she added.
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 by the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser. One real estate expert bet the site — one of the last undeveloped lots on the iconic stretch of palm-lined Biscayne Boulevard — could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local black history, filed a lawsuit this month in Miami-Dade County court against the Board of Trustees of Miami-Dade College, the public school that owned the property. He argued that the board violated Florida's Sunshine Law by failing to provide sufficient notice of its Sept. 23 special meeting when it voted to relinquish the land.
An agenda released before the meeting simply said the council would consider transferring the property to a state trust overseen by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, but did not provide any details about what properties were being considered or why. Unlike all other board meetings this year, the 8 a.m. meeting on Sept. 23 was not broadcast live.
A week later, DeSantis and other top GOP officials voted to reconvey the land, effectively placing the property under Trump family control when they donated it to the Trump Library Foundation. The foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump's husband Michael Boulos, and the president's lawyer James Keeley.
Jesus Suarez, an attorney for the college, said MDC did what was required by law and questioned Dunn's political motives for bringing the case.
“Under Florida law, there is no requirement to be specific about the notice because the trustees can come into that room and talk to each other about anything,” Suarez said.
Dunn's lawyers argue that no one not already involved in the deal could have known what the board would do.
“People have a right to know what they're going to do when the deal is so significant, so unusual and deprives the students and the college of this land,” plaintiff's attorney Richard Brodsky told The Associated Press before the judge's ruling.
Javier Ley-Soto, general counsel for Miami Dade College, said it is still in the process of finalizing the land transfer. He estimates that delays caused by the injunction could cost the college up to $300,000.
“Under Florida law, there is no requirement to be specific about the notice because the trustees can come into that room and talk to each other about anything,” Suarez said.
Dunn's lawyers argue that no one not already involved in the deal could have known what the board would do.
“People have a right to know what they're going to do when the deal is so significant, so unusual and deprives the students and the college of this land,” plaintiff's attorney Richard Brodsky told The Associated Press before the judge's ruling.
Javier Ley-Soto, general counsel for Miami Dade College, said it is still in the process of finalizing the land transfer. He estimates that delays caused by the injunction could cost the college up to $300,000.
