For the second time in eight years, Russell Galbut is seeking to make a deal with Miami-Dade County for control of the historic Flagler Street courthouse, among the most iconic buildings in downtown Miami. This time around, Galbut is showing confidence he will come out on top.
Recently, Miami-based GFO Investments, a development firm led by Galbut and his daughter Marissa Galbut, submitted plans with the county for an ambitious renovation of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse at 73 West Flagler Street, even though negotiations to buy the Neoclassical-style building have barely started. Galbut envisions demolishing the north side of the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, so that GFO can jam a 65-story mixed-use tower right up against the courthouse.
Galbut declined comment through a spokesperson, who referred The Real Deal to a recent press release that touts the planned project. Yet, Miami-Dade County commissioner Elieen Higgins, who is leading county negotiations with Galbut’s firm, told The Real Deal that the county and Galbut have yet to reach an agreement, and that Miami-Dade could still back out if the terms are not favorable for taxpayers. Higgins’ district includes downtown Miami.
“If I don’t think it’s fair, I will present a memo to the county commission that it’s not a good deal,” Higgins said. “I am committed to having a deal that makes sense. There is not much wiggle room for me.”
Once Miami’s tallest building
Built between 1925 and 1929, the 27-story Miami-Dade County Courthouse was Miami’s tallest building until 1965. The courthouse’s exterior features a pyramidal ziggurat roof, Roman columns at its south and north entrances and granite and terracotta cladding. Marble floors, bronze elevator doors, colorful mosaics in the ceiling and atrium lobby make up some of the interior’s features.
“Generally speaking, this is a great Neoclassical building that means a lot to Miami,” said Richard Heisenbottle, a Coral Gables-based architect who specializes in historic restorations. “It was the seat of both city and county governments, and even served as a jail.”
The courthouse cost an estimated $4 million to build, Heisenbottle said. That’s roughly $74 million today when calculating for inflation. By comparison, the county’s new 23-story courthouse, which is nearly complete and adjacent to the historic building, will cost taxpayers an estimated $267 million, county memos show.
Between the 1960s and 1980s, the city and county offices moved out of the courthouse and the building stopped serving as a jail. But the building continued to serve as the civil courthouse, serving as the legal battleground for business disputes, including major lawsuits entangling prominent developers. The courthouse is also within a national historic district, said Dr. Paul George, resident historian at HistoryMiami Museum.
“There are a lot of hoops to jump through to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places,” George said. “It’s more than just a building. It’s an amazing element of Greater Miami history.”
Since the early 2000s, the building has fallen into significant disrepair. A 2021 countywide review of older buildings, prompted by the Surfside condo collapse, uncovered major structural issues at the courthouse, including concrete spalling, cracks in beams and slabs, and corrosion of steel columns. The building was evacuated and was closed until December 2021 while the county made emergency repairs.
The county’s best option is to allow a private developer to take over the building and find a new use for the courthouse, commissioner Higgins explained. “Historic buildings are incredibly expensive to maintain,” Higgins said. “And this is an active courthouse. We had to keep it operational while doing short-term fixes.”
GFO is the only bidder
Galbut has been eyeing the historic courthouse since 2017, when Crescent Heights, the Miami-based national development firm he co-founded, submitted an unsolicited proposal for the building. Crescent Heights offered to build the county a new $300 million courthouse at 54 West Flagler Street, a surface parking lot that the developer owns. In exchange, the county would have allowed Crescent Heights to take over and convert the courthouse into shops and offices, published reports state. The county would also have paid Crescent Heights $18 million in annual rent for use of the new courthouse.
The negotiations fizzled, and Miami-Dade opted to build the new courthouse on a vacant lot abutting the Metrorail tracks at Flagler Street and Northwest First Avenue. However, the surface parking lot is again playing a major role in Galbut’s current pursuit of the historic courthouse.
At a February meeting, the county commission voted to let commissioner Higgins take charge of negotiating with GFO, after it was the only firm to respond to the county’s bid to sell the courthouse. The developer offered to pay $300,000 above the county’s minimum asking price of $52 million. But the offer involves giving Miami-Dade the surface parking lot and cash.
Typically, county commissioners do not have hands-on involvement in procurement negotiations, which are handled by county departments that report directly to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. In 2022, the county commission approved an administrative order allowing commissioners to take the lead on negotiating deals for land the county owns, but no longer uses.
In recent years, the county commission approved three no-bid deals for so-called surplus land, including two pending sales of government owned sites in Homestead and along the Miami River to groups planning projects, despite having no development experience.
Higgins is the running point on negotiations with GFO, even though Galbut is among a bevy of local developers that she, like her county commission colleagues and Levine Cava, count on for financial political support. In 2023, 10 entities with the same address as GFO and Crescent Heights donated a combined $10,000 to a political action committee that supported Higgins’ unopposed reelection last year. Last week, Higgins announced she is running for Miami mayor in this year’s city election.
Higgins insists that she will support the best deal for taxpayers, and that any sale proceeds are crucial to help pay for the new courthouse, she told TRD. She got involved to speed up the negotiations process, Higgins said.
Yet, the commissioner claimed that she’s merely overseeing the negotiations process while the county’s real estate professional staff and the county attorney’s office are handling direct talks with GFO and Galbut.
“I have not met with the developer since the county commission gave me this permission,” Higgins said. “There is no chance that I am across the table negotiating with Mr. Galbut.”
Galbut unveils plan
Should GFO complete its purchase of the historic courthouse, the firm plans to convert the building into hospitality, retail and office uses while preserving its historical architectural integrity, a press release states.
The developer would seek a partial demolition of the courthouse’s northern portion, so GFO could build the 65-story high-rise, which would have a mix of 800 condos and apartments, the plan shows. GFO would rebuild the interior of the courthouse’s northern portion within the planned 20-foot-tall lobby of the new building.
Galbut’s plan would have to comply with all the rules of the courthouse’s historic designation, Higgins said. “There’s an entire document that talks about what has to be maintained for any work to be done,” she said. “There’s no chance when you walk into that courthouse that the current exterior and interior will not remain.”
GFO’s plan would also require approvals from Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board and Miami’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board, according to historian George. “Galbut is a pretty responsible developer,” George said. “The building really needs a lot of help structurally. We have to preserve it at all costs.”