MIAMI — A new lawsuit aims to overturn Miami Dade College’s decision to deed over property adjacent to the Freedom Tower to the state, even though the governor and Florida Cabinet have already voted to gift the land to Donald Trump’s presidential library foundation to build a high rise.

In a complaint filed this week in Miami circuit court, historian and activist Marvin Dunn accused Miami Dade College of violating Florida’s public transparency laws in its quick decision last month to hand over prime downtown real estate to the state.

The complaint, filed Monday, alleges that the college did not give proper public notice about the true purpose of its Board of Trustees’ vote to convey the property to Florida’s Internal Improvement Trust Fund, which is controlled by the governor and Cabinet. The relief sought? Voiding the land transfer until the college’s board takes a new, publicly noticed vote.

“We’re seeking an injunction against the transfer of the land to the state by Miami Dade College on the ground that the decision to give the land to the state was made in violation of the Government in the Sunshine Act,” Dunn’s attorney Richard Brodsky said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet have already voted to gift the land to Trump’s library foundation. But Brodsky noted that the property appraiser’s website still lists Miami Dade College as the owner, which he said suggests/shows a judge can still block the deed transfer.

Neither Miami Dade College nor the governor’s office immediately responded to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

The college’s Board of Trustees issued a public notice a week before its Sept. 23 meeting, writing that the purpose was to “discuss potential real estate transactions.” Neither that notice nor the agenda for the meeting, posted the day before, gave details about which property the board would be voting on or its intended use.

The college had originally purchased the property in 2004 for $25 million and has been using as a parking lot. There was no debate or discussion about the land transfer ahead of the trustees’ vote to hand it over to the state. Public documents made available by the college and state show the only return the college will receive for the land is the commitment that construction begin on a presidential library within five years.

According to the vice chair of the board and records the college provided to the Miami Herald, the trustees had not received confirmation of the state’s plans for the land ahead of the vote. DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted to gift the land it obtained from the college to Trump’s library foundation a week later.

The complaint argues that the lawsuit is about public process, not politics.

“This action does not have to do with whether the District Board of Trustees made a wise decision. It is not brought to lodge a political protest,” Dunn’s complaint reads. “Depriving the public of reasonable notice of this proposed decision was a plain violation of the Sunshine Act and of the Florida Constitution.”

The vast majority of Miami Dade voters, including 59% of Republicans, think the college should have retained ownership of the land, according to a survey of 600 voters conducted last week by the Democratic polling firm Bendixen & Amandi International.

Florida officials and Trump’s library foundation have touted the planned high-rise presidential library as a benefit to the college, though neither have released details about specific agreements or planned collaborations with the school.

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