A judge in Miami has dismissed a complaint challenging a college’s decision to gift prime downtown real estate for President Donald Trump’s future presidential library, clearing the way for the real estate developer-turned-president to build a towering monument to his political rise in an iconic stretch of the city.
A local activist brought the lawsuit against Miami Dade College, arguing the school’s board didn’t give sufficient public notice and violated the state’s open government law when board members voted in September to give away the nearly 3-acre (1.2-hectare) property in downtown Miami.
The site 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 a palm tree-lined stretch of Biscayne Boulevard — could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz had initially sided with Marvin Dunn, the retired professor and chronicler of local Black history who filed the case. In October, Ruiz temporarily blocked the college from formally transferring the land while the challenge played out, setting a trial for next August.
But on Thursday, Ruiz ruled in favor of the college, dismissing Dunn’s complaint without prejudice after the board redid the vote on the land giveaway earlier this month at a more than four-hour-long public meeting that included fiery testimony on the issue.
Ruiz said her decision was not political but solely based on the narrow facts of the case and the confines of the open government law.
“This court is not deciding whether this is wise, whether the transaction is appropriate for one president or another, or for a library, or for a petting zoo. That is not what the court is here to decide,” Ruiz said.
Attorneys for the college maintain that the board did not violate state law, but argued that any alleged violation had been “fully cured” following the redo vote.
“The board has redone the vote just as plaintiff asked, and has considered this anew, truly deliberated on it and has again conveyed the land to the state,” said Jennifer Hernandez, an attorney for the college.
Though Ruiz dismissed Dunn’s complaint, the judge acknowledged his decision to leverage his home to pay a court-ordered bond as part of the terms of her order temporarily blocking the land transfer.
Ruiz described Dunn as someone “willing to put themselves, their money and their home on the line for the better good,” adding, “and I thank you.”
After the college first voted in September to transfer the property to a fund controlled by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, the GOP officials voted to transfer the land again, effectively putting the property under the control of the Trump family when they deeded it to the foundation for Trump’s library. That foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump; Tiffany Trump’s husband, Michael Boulos; and the president’s attorney, James Kiley.
Eric Trump has pledged the future library will be “one of the most beautiful buildings ever built” and “an Icon on the Miami skyline.” Under local zoning rules, the best use of the property would be a towering condo building, according to one Miami real estate expert, who described the site as a potential “cash cow.”
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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
