{"id":353406,"date":"2026-07-27T07:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/353406\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T07:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:12:20","slug":"miami-commissioners-ok-sale-of-historic-site-to-ken-griffin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/353406\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami commissioners OK sale of historic site to Ken Griffin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"View The historic 121-year-old cottage built by pioneering Miami physician James M. Jackson for his medical practice has been located on Brickell Bay Drive since 2017, and has served as headquarters for preservation group Dade Heritage Trust since 1978.. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

With no meaningful discussion, Miami commissioners agreed to dispose of one of the city\u2019s oldest and most significant historic buildings, approving the no-bid sale of a 121-year-old publicly owned cottage and the lot it occupies near the Brickell waterfront to billionaire Ken Griffin.<\/p>\n

Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the $2.98 million sale, negotiated behind closed doors with no public input, while providing no explanation of what will happen to the historically designated, classically inspired cottage, built by pioneering physician James Jackson<\/a> as his medical clinic.<\/p>\n

No one appeared during the brief hearing on behalf of Griffin, the founder and CEO of Miami-based hedge fund Citadel, and there was no explanation of the deal or the fate of the cottage from the commission dais or from the city administration.<\/p>\n

Dade Heritage Trust, the preservation group that has occupied and maintained the cottage since 1978 under a lease from the city, said in a news release that Griffin will pay to move the building to Coconut Grove, while not specifying where precisely or disclosing what assurances it has that will happen. Trust director Christine Rupp said in the release the organization would own both the cottage and the land it would sit on.<\/p>\n

\"Ken Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, has spent more than $700 million amassing real estate in Miami\u2019s financial district. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Rupp said after the vote she had no further information to disclose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to Ken Griffin for his generosity and the opportunity to establish The Dade Heritage Trust on its own property for the first time in our history, ensuring we can continue our stewardship and community engagement well into the future,\u201d her statement says.<\/p>\n

Documents released by the city, meanwhile, shed little light, but suggest the city is washing its hands of responsibility for the cottage. Sale documents say it may be moved to a \u201csite to be selected by the Existing Tenant,\u201d Dade Heritage Trust, while stating the city will not be involved in the negotiations between the Griffin-connected LLC that\u2019s buying it and the Trust over the new site.<\/p>\n

Citadel spokesperson David Millar did not provide further specifics about the future of the cottage either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dr. Jackson Medical Office is a tangible link to Miami\u2019s earliest days as a growing city with a frontier spirit. We are proud to help secure its future in Coconut Grove, where it can continue to connect new generations with the people, places, and stories that helped shape Miami,\u201d read a statement from Millar issued after the commission\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n

No commissioner discussed the deal. In a brief comment before voting to approve the deal, Commissioner Miguel Gabela said he has confidence in Griffin, calling him \u201ca good corporate citizen and a man of his word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Eileen Higgins, who doesn\u2019t have a vote on the commission but has assumed its chairmanship, said she supported the sale and said, without providing details, that it puts Dade Heritage Trust \u201cin the driver\u2019s seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Aerial The historic 121-year-old cottage built by pioneering Miami physician James M. Jackson for his medical practice has been located on Brickell Bay Drive since 2017, and has served as headquarters for preservation group Dade Heritage Trust since 1978.. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

In brief comments to the commission, Rupp noted the Jackson cottage is not on its original site, though it\u2019s been located in Brickell since 1917.<\/p>\n

Jackson, after whom Jackson Memorial Hospital is named, built the modest wood cottage for his practice next to his home in downtown Miami in 1905. A buyer moved it by barge to 190 S.E. 12th Ter. in Brickell in 1917 and turned it into his home. The city purchased the building in the 1970s, and designated it a protected historic site in 1983. The cottage is also on the National Register of Historic Sites.<\/p>\n

Dade Heritage Trust renovated and pays for all maintenance for the cottage, which has served as its headquarters and as a visitors\u2019 center since 1978. Surrounded by trees and a garden, it\u2019s been widely appreciated by residents and preservationists as a small surviving oasis of early Miami history even as it\u2019s become hemmed in by skyscrapers.<\/p>\n

Griffin, who is worth more than $50 billion, has spent over $700 million since 2022 buying up the block around the Jackson cottage, which runs from Brickell Bay Drive to Brickell Avenue, as he remakes a swath of the neighborhood. With the approval of his purchase of the Jackson cottage, Griffin will now own the entire block. He is also building a towering new headquarters for Citadel on the bayfront across the street.<\/p>\n

The Jackson sale is the second deal Griffin has struck to strip Brickell of a historic building. Griffin had long been looking for a place to move<\/a> William Jennings Bryan\u2019s historic 1913 Villa Serena home off his bayfront Brickell estate. Earlier this year, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens announced it had agreed to take Villa Serena<\/a> as a gift from Griffin.<\/p>\n

News of the proposed Jackson cottage purchase<\/a>, which did not surface publicly until publication of the commission meeting agenda for Thursday, stunned preservationists. Some say moving a historic building from its original or longtime location hurts its integrity by removing it from its historic and physical context.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came as a big surprise,\u201d said Beatrice Brickell, great-grandaughter of William and Mary Brickell, after whom the neighborhood is named, in a phone interview ahead of Thursday\u2019s commission meeting. \u201cI feel like we need to have more input from people in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elena Miami resident Elena Kasparis reads a letter from Beatrice Brickell, the great-granddaughter of Miami pioneer Mary Brickell, while Mayor Eileen Higgins listens during a Miami commission hearing on the sale to billionaire Ken Griffin of a historic, publicly owned 121-year-old cottage and the lots it occupies. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

During public comment before the vote, some preservationists expressed support for the sale, but others asked the city for more transparency and open discussion before a decision on the sale was finalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision seems to be already made,\u201d Miami history blogger Casey Piket told commissioners, while alluding to other efforts to move historic buildings to make way for development. \u201cBrickell has very few historic assets left. They\u2019re not just hot potatoes. They actually mean something in the space that they\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several residents said they shared concerns about what they saw as a secretive deal between the billionaire businessman and the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents have been left with more questions than answers,\u201d said Henrietta Schwarz. \u201cToo much about this transaction has remained behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becky Matkov, speaking for preservation group The Villagers, said the deal between the Trust and Griffin could turn out to be \u201cexcellent,\u201d but she urged commissioners to defer approval until the plan can get a full public airing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public is still entitled to hear the plan\u201d before the sale is approved, Matkov, a former Dade Heritage Trust director, told commissioners.<\/p>\n

In a letter read to commissioners, Beatrice Brickell urged commissioners to keep the cottage in Brickell, suggesting it could be relocated to the city\u2019s bayfront Brickell Park, where the family mausoleum is.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Damian Pardo, whose district includes Brickell, said he agreed there had been insufficient information provided to the public, but promised before voting to approve the sale that details would be forthcoming soon.<\/p>\n

He noted that the city\u2019s historic preservation board would have a say in any move of the Jackson building. Though it doesn\u2019t have authority over a city decision to sell a historic property, the board can exercise oversight of a move and renovation of the cottage, which is designated as a protected landmark.<\/p>\n

After the vote, Beatrice Brickell said the newly organized Mary Bulmer Brickell Foundation will continue lobbying to move the cottage to Brickell Park, rather than Coconut Grove. She said there\u2019s \u201cmore to be determined\u201d about the future of the historic building.<\/p>\n

Its site for the past 109 years, meanwhile, seems likely to become part of a new Griffin development. Griffin paid $286.5 million for an abutting office tower and parking garage at 1221 Brickell Ave., and he recently finished buying out the Solaris condo tower next door to the Jackson cottage. Griffin reportedly spent around $125 million over the course of several years buying owners out of the 138-unit condo, which is just 20 years old.<\/p>\n

Last month, Griffin announced updated plans for the Brickell assemblage, including a 300-unit residential building and a parking garage, as well as additional office space in the tower now under construction across Brickell Bay Drive.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 23, 2026 at 5:11 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Andres Viglucci<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Andres Viglucci covers urban affairs for the Miami Herald. He joined the Herald in 1983.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Catherine Odom<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Catherine Odom covers real estate for the Miami Herald. She previously interned on the Herald\u2019s government team and has worked as a journalist in Germany and Armenia. She is a graduate of Northwestern University.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The historic 121-year-old cottage built by pioneering Miami physician James M. Jackson for his medical practice has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-353406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}