The board of a South Florida college is appealing a judge’s ruling from giving away a parcel of prime real estate in downtown Miami to be used for President Donald Trump’s future .
Attorneys for the District Board of Trustees of Miami Dade College filed a notice of appeal in Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal on Tuesday, challenging a lower court’s injunction that bars the transfer of the property — at least for now.
Last month, Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz sided with a Miami activist who alleged that college officials violated Florida’s open government law when they gifted the sizable plot of real estate to the state. Republican Gov. and other top Florida officials then voted to to the foundation for the .
Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local Black history, filed arguing that the college board violated Florida’s by not providing sufficient notice for its special meeting on Sept. 23, when it voted to give up 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 assessment by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser. One real estate expert wagered that the parcel — one of the last undeveloped lots on an iconic stretch of palm tree-lined Biscayne Boulevard — could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
The parties are expected to appear before the Miami-Dade judge again on Nov. 24, when attorneys for the college plan to ask that court to stay its proceedings, pending the appellate court’s review.
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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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