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A rendering of how developer Russell Galbut would build a modern apartment tower right next to Miami-Dade County\u2019s historic 1928 courthouse, a building that\u2019s been abandoned for a modern replacement across the street.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of GFO Acquisitions<\/p>\n
After a real estate auction<\/a> failed to draw any bidders for Miami-Dade\u2019s historic courthouse, a developer says he can preserve the building by constructing a sleek 70-story apartment tower so close to the original structure it will stand atop the courthouse steps.<\/p>\n Russell Galbut\u2019s proposal pitches the narrow residential tower as a way to revitalize Flagler Street with an influx of new residents and street-level restaurants and shops, as well as generate the tax dollars needed to preserve a courthouse so old Al Capone once stood trial there<\/a>. His proposal to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava rests on a novel tax break: to let the bulk of the county property taxes produced from the new tower be spent maintaining the historically protected courthouse for decades to come.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re connecting to a building that\u2019s economically viable in order to preserve the historic building forever,\u201d Galbut told the Miami Herald, which acquired his Sept. 4 proposal from Miami-Dade through a records request. The 1928 courthouse, Galbut said, \u201chas no economic viability by itself. Who would buy it to keep it like that?\u201d<\/p>\n Miami-Dade has already rejected a similar proposal<\/a> by Galbut as a bad deal, but that was before a high-profile auction of the courthouse failed to attract any bids after three months<\/a>. The first auction on the website govdeals.com<\/a> was set to end in late July, but after nobody bid, the county extended it until late August. No bids came in again, leading to a second extension and then a third. The auction was scheduled to end Oct. 2, but it was recently extended through Oct. 25.<\/p>\n But even an auction bid wouldn\u2019t guarantee a buyer for the courthouse. The Levine Cava administration would still need to negotiate a purchase deal with a winner, and then get that approved by the County Commission. By submitting his proposal, Galbut hopes to bypass the auction process and negotiate his own deal with Levine Cava.<\/p>\n Galbut does have competition. As part of the Herald\u2019s records request, the county turned over a competing courthouse proposal by another Miami developer, Moishe Mana. His Sept. 18 proposal offered a much simpler deal: to pay $5 million for the courthouse property. In its auction, Miami-Dade had set a minimum bid of $35 million.<\/p>\n Both Galbut and Mana are prominent developers in Miami and reliable sources of campaign contributions for elected officials. The Mana proposal, submitted through Fortuna Group Enterprises, does not mention any additional construction on the courthouse site. Instead, it describes using \u201csubstantial private investment\u201d to convert the existing courthouse into a mix of art galleries, design studios, fashion showrooms, and spaces for lectures and cultural programming.<\/p>\n \u201cPurchaser envisions a place where artists, fashion designers, educators, entrepreneurs, and the public can exhibit, create, collaborate and connect with new audiences and markets,\u201d read the proposal signed by Mana. He was not immediately available for comment Monday.<\/p>\n The Galbut proposal, submitted through GFO Acquisitions, describes reinventing the existing courthouse too, with restaurants and caf\u00e9s on the ground floor, and the upper floors converted to a mix of hotel rooms, office space, and a speakeasy bar where the county jail once stood at the top of the tower. Galbut also promises to once again illuminate the pyramid at the peak of the tower \u2014 reflecting the longstanding nickname of the building<\/a>, \u201cCielito Lindo.\u201d<\/p>\n A rendering of how developer Russell Galbut would build a modern apartment tower right next to Miami-Dade County\u2019s historic 1928 courthouse, a building that\u2019s been abandoned for a modern replacement across the street. Courtesy of GFO Acquisitions <\/p>\n