Members of the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees unanimously voted on Tuesday to give away a valuable lot of undeveloped land in downtown Miami for the ultimate purpose of creating a Trump Presidential Library, after an earlier vote became the subject of a lawsuit.
The second public meeting, held at the college's Hialeah Campus, featured more than 100 members of the public speaking about the loosely defined plans for the presidential library. A majority of speakers spoke against giving the land to the state of Florida, which in turn plans to hand the land to the Trump presidential library foundation.
But many residents spoke in favor of the property transfer, saying it would benefit the entire state of Florida and become an economic driver for Miami.
“ Having a presidential library in our state, especially in our community, is huge,” said Miguel Granda, president of the Miami Young Republicans.
“It'll boost tourism and I would prefer having a presidential library here than another high rise in which many young professionals like ourselves that just graduated college would probably not be able to afford.”
The property is located directly across the street from the Freedom Tower on Biscayne Boulevard, where hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees were processed in the early 1960s. The plot was purchased by the College in 2004 for $24.8 million. Since then property values have exploded, with some estimating the value for the plot of land to be over $300 million.
The college will receive no money from the transfer. Trustees said this is normal practice for the development of any presidential library.
Speaking at Tuesday's special meeting, board member Roberto Alonso said it was helpful to get more feedback from the public and for the board to share more details on the move.
“ Everything to us always is about the educational benefits to our students and our community, as well as a cultural area where they can go and visit museums,” Alonso told media. “ Presidential libraries are places where you can go and research, you can go learn about American history and stability. So to me, it's something important that adds to what the college offers.”
But Philip Stoddard, the former Mayor of South Miami, said that giving the valuable land away for no money — for any reason — would impact the school’s ability to fundraise in the future.
“I don’t think many donors want to contribute to a college that has given away such a valuable asset,” Stoddard said in comments to the board. “I think it will be very difficult for you to continue to work on the college endowment.”
Yanelis Valdes, who works at a nonprofit and showed up to speak against the land transfer, said she's concerned about the ultimate future of the property, wanting to see it prioritized for student benefit. She also worries about the message the library conveys, saying " this government really doesn't represent the folks who live here in Miami-Dade."
" I'm Cuban-American. I'm a child of immigrants and it's just really egregious to see that they want to build this symbol right next to the Freedom Tower, which is really a big part of our history as a community," Valdes, 32, told WLRN.
For Valdes, it's not just a symbol of the community, but a reminder of what her family is going through under the administration's immigration crackdown. Her great-uncle, who has been in the U.S. for 45 years, was detained during a routine check-in last week, she said.
" We haven't heard from him since," Valdes said. "It's been a week today and he was denied his heart medication."
The second meeting took place after an initial vote in late September that handed the plot of land to the State of Florida. Minutes after that vote, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the land would be used for a Trump Presidential Library. Uthmeier’s post on X was the first many heard about the plans for the plot of land, and the Florida Cabinet soon voted to transfer the land to the Trump presidential library foundation.
A lawsuit was quickly filed by Marvin Dunn, an activist and historian, alleging that Miami Dade College violated the state’s Sunshine Laws by not properly notifying residents about the nature of the planned September vote.
Miami-Dade Judge Mabel Ruiz declined to support the college’s attempt to stop the lawsuit, claiming that Dunn had a significant chance of winning. A state appeals court also declined to block the suit.
The Miami Dade College Board of Trustees then announced it would hold another meeting and another vote, this time with more specifics about the plot of land in the public notice about the meeting.
Lawsuit set to continue
Speakers at the meeting had cited widely reported plans to build a commercial hotel or condos on the site, saying the transfer would be used to make money for the president and his family. President Trump’s son Eric posted on X that the building there would be “an Icon on the Miami skyline.”
Board of Trustees chairman Michael Bileca told the audience that attorneys for the college would soon work to build in protections and conditions for the transfer, requiring that it be used in not-for-profit purposes.
But Dunn, who made pointed comments at the meeting, told media afterwards he was not moved.
“This is a land giveaway to the Trump Library Foundation. For the first time today I heard somebody say something about the college getting something out of it," Dunn said, taking partial credit for Bileca's comments. That has not even come up before now.”
He said that his lawsuit and attempts to block the property transfer would continue. “This was a waste of time,” he said, “trying to avoid my lawsuit — it didn’t work.”
The lot was originally purchased to ensure the expansion of the Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami, former president Eduardo Padrón previously told WLRN.
Since then the campus population has grown from about 19,500 to about 27,000. When asked what it would mean to see the land given away for no monetary return, Padrón said it would be a “a very sad day for me and for the former trustees who worked very hard to get this accomplished.”
