A Florida judge on Tuesday temporarily halted the planned transfer of prime downtown Miami land intended for President Donald Trump’s future presidential library.
Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz’s decision followed a lawsuit from a Miami activist who claimed officials at a local college violated Florida’s open government law by gifting the sizable property to the state, which then approved its transfer to the foundation overseeing the planned library.
“This is not an easy decision,” Mavel said from the bench, explaining her ruling and noting that the college had not given the public reasonable notice ahead of 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, valued at more than $67 million in a 2025 Miami-Dade County appraisal, is considered highly desirable by developers. One real estate expert suggested the parcel—one of the last undeveloped lots on the iconic palm-lined Biscayne Boulevard—could fetch hundreds of millions more.
Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local Black history, filed the lawsuit this month against the Board of Trustees for Miami Dade College, which owned the land. He alleged the board violated Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law by failing to provide sufficient notice for its special meeting on Sept. 23, when it voted to transfer the land.
The meeting agenda merely noted that the board would consider conveying property to a state fund overseen by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, without specifying which property was under consideration or why. Unlike other board meetings this year, the 8 a.m. session on Sept. 23 was not livestreamed.
A week later, DeSantis and other GOP officials approved the land transfer again, effectively placing the property under the Trump family’s control when it was deeded to the library foundation, led by Eric Trump, Michael Boulos, and attorney James Kiley.
Jesus Suarez, the college’s attorney, argued that Miami Dade College had followed the law and questioned Dunn’s political motives.
“There is no requirement under Florida law that there be specificity on notice, because those trustees can come into that room and talk to each other about whatever they wish,” Suarez said.
Dunn’s attorneys counter that the public could not have known what the board planned.
“The people have a right to know what they’re going to decide to do when the transaction is so significant, so unusual and deprives the students and the college of this land,” plaintiff’s attorney Richard Brodsky told The Associated Press prior to the ruling.
Javier Ley-Soto, Miami Dade College’s general counsel, said the land transfer is still being finalised and estimated that injunction-related delays could cost the college up to $300,000.
Other Florida sites had previously been considered for the library, including properties linked to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and Florida International University near Miami. Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a law preventing local governments from blocking the development of a presidential library, aiming to limit opposition in liberal-leaning areas.
(With AP inputs)
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