Russell Galbut and Moishe Mana are vying for the site of Miami-Dade County’s historic courthouse after a months-long auction failed to attract a buyer.
Galbut offered to pay the county’s $35 million asking price as part of his redevelopment proposal.
He wants to build a 70-story apartment tower near the courthouse steps at 73 West Flagler Street, adding ground-floor restaurants and café space and converting the upper floors with hotel rooms, offices and a bar at the top of the tower where the county jail was previously housed, the Miami Herald reported.
The developer’s proposal, submitted by GFO Acquisitions to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, would create a tax arrangement that directs most of the county property taxes generated by the new tower toward preserving the historic courthouse for decades.
Tenants in the historic building would not generate enough revenue to cover the vacant 28-story building’s maintenance and preservation costs, Galbut said. The 70-story development would help bridge that gap by generating profits for the developer while creating a new stream of county tax revenue for the historic building.
Under the proposal, Miami-Dade property taxes generated by the new tower would be diverted to courthouse preservation instead of going toward services such as police, jails, parks and transit. Taxes owed to the city of Miami, school board and state agencies would still be paid as usual, and Galbut would also pay the full county taxes on the existing property.
Galbut has had his eye on the property for years, first proposing in 2017 to build the county a new courthouse and convert the historic one into shops and offices.
The developer made a previous offer when Miami-Dade sought buyers in 2024, with the county at the time estimating the building’s value at $53 million.
That proposal called for buying the building from the county and converting it into hospitality, retail and offices, preserving its architecture. He also wanted to demolish the north portion and replace it with a 65-story, 800-unit tower with condos and apartments. But the proposal called for a tax rebate from the county as a maintenance fee in order to redevelop the building, the Miami Herald reported. County officials rejected the offer and voted to hold an auction.
Mana, one of downtown Miami’s biggest property owners, offered $5 million for the aging courthouse — far below the county’s current $35 million minimum bid. In a proposal submitted on behalf of Fortuna Group Enterprises, Mana seeks to mainly use private investment to convert the courthouse into art galleries, design studios, fashion showrooms and spaces for lectures and cultural programming.
“It’s a very difficult project because of the limitations. It’s small floors, low ceilings, only a few floors you can use. It’s not possible,” Mana previously told The Real Deal. “We were looking at what we can do with it, but not at a $35 million cost.”
The initial GovDeals auction was supposed to close in late July, but with no bids, Miami-Dade extended it through late August. Still with no takers, the county extended it again, with the latest deadline pushed from Oct. 2 to Oct. 25.
A winning bid wouldn’t automatically seal the sale. The Levine Cava administration would still have to negotiate the terms with the bidder and secure county commission approval. Galbut’s proposal would instead allow him to sidestep the auction and negotiate a deal directly with the city.
The site for the 1928 courthouse, where Al Capone once stood trial, sits on civic institution zoning and qualifies for rapid transit zoning that allows for up to 500 residential units per gross acre, no minimum parking requirements and an unlimited floor area ratio. —Eman Elshahawy
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