Downtown Miami’s old county courthouse tower has been trying to find a buyer for months, and so far, nobody’s biting. The 28-story building at 73 W. Flagler Street sat empty after Miami-Dade County moved its court operations to a newer facility, and the county has been running an online auction through GovDeals.com to unload the historic property.
The math tells part of the story. The county set a minimum bid of just over $35 million for the tower, which opened in 1928 as one of Miami’s earliest skyscrapers. When the first bidding deadline arrived in late August, the listing had drawn nearly 50,000 page views — plenty of curiosity — but zero actual bids. County officials pushed the deadline to September 18, and as of this week, the building is still sitting on the market.
It’s not for lack of interest in the location. Miami developer Russell Galbut reportedly offered the county $33 million in cash plus downtown land valued at around $20 million for the tower, a package worth more than the current minimum bid. The county turned it down after negotiations stalled, betting it can do better through the open auction process.
What’s scaring off buyers is likely the building itself. The tower has a rocky structural history: during its original construction in the 1920s, builders discovered the site’s soft limestone bedrock couldn’t support the weight once they reached the tenth floor, forcing a construction pause while crews poured massive concrete reinforcement columns deep into the ground. Nearly a century later, the basement still floods periodically, and some of those aging support columns show visible wear. On top of that, the building’s historic designation limits how much a new owner could realistically renovate or reconfigure the space — a tough combination for anyone weighing the cost of bringing a 98-year-old high-rise up to modern standards.
For a property with this much history — and this much square footage — sitting empty in the heart of downtown Miami’s business district, the outcome matters well beyond county government. A shuttered building of that scale affects everything from nearby foot traffic to how downtown Miami’s skyline gets used and marketed. Whether the county lowers its price, finds a preservation-minded buyer willing to take on the structural work, or ends up right back at the negotiating table with someone like Galbut, it’s a story worth watching for anyone doing business downtown.
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Source: Miami Today