What to do with a 100-year-old courthouse? Miami-Dade hopes auction brings a buyer

Under an ornate wooden ceiling in a courtroom where Al Capone once stood trial, representatives of Miami-Dade County on Tuesday made a pitch for betting big on one of Miami’s oldest buildings.

“Look around this courthouse and look at the craftsmanship,” Idania Barroso, a member of the county’s in-house real estate team, told attendees of a catered kick-off to the online auction of Miami-Dade’s 1928 courthouse. “Marble floors, decorated ceilings, elevator doors made of bronze mosaics and historic woodwork represent the design standards of another era.”

So far, that’s been part of the problem.

Months after opening a $267 million replacement next door, Miami-Dade has struggled to find a buyer for the one built nearly 100 years ago. Protected by a historic designation, demolition isn’t an option.

Judges who worked there bemoaned the dated layout and amenities, suggesting that converting it into office space might be an uphill push. Transformation into luxury condos might work. But a developer would need to make do with no balconies, no pool and the architectural confines that come with a stone building that was designed for trials, not open-concept kitchens and heated bathroom floors.

But for some of the prospective buyers gathered for the presentation in Courtroom 6-1, where Capone beat a perjury rap in 1930, the long history of the building provided the selling point.

“I think there is a tremendous opportunity to adaptively reuse the courthouse as a hotel,” said Richard Heisenbottle, a prominent architect in Coral Gables who specializes in historic buildings, including work on the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Freedom Tower and the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.

Miami-Dade had hoped a hotel buyer would be game the first time the county put the abandoned courthouse up for sale. That was in 2024, but Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said her administration wanted at least $52 million and couldn’t make a deal with a willing buyer. There was one offer, from developer Russell Galbut, but he wanted to build a modern building next to the courthouse and get a tax rebate from the county to pay for upkeep of the historic structure.

Levine Cava balked, and county commissioners voted in 2025 for the auction that begins Wednesday on the government-surplus site govdeals.com. While an executive called the company “eBay for government,” anybody can’t just log on to bid. That requires a $100,000 refundable deposit.

The highest bidder doesn’t necessarily become the next owner of the courthouse, either.

Any sale agreement must first be vetted by Levine Cava’s administration, then approved by the County Commission.

That process led to criticism by some attendees that an online auction wasn’t the right way to sell a historic building that should come with a detailed redevelopment plan before Miami-Dade considers an offer.

Otherwise, they said, the auction could result in protracted talks with the county for the winning bidder. Or, if the county allows it, a winning bidder without a viable plan could just sit on the real estate until another buyer comes along.

“This is nuts,” said Arthur Porosoff, a real estate broker and a member of Miami’s zoning board. “You’re going to let someone come in, stroke a check and hold this building hostage.”

County administrators pointed out the property was listed before on the open market, with limited interest from deep-pocketed buyers. Now they’re hoping the reach of an online auction will find a new owner.

Manny Cid, an assistant director in the county’s Strategic Procurement Department, noted it was nearly 100 years ago when the courthouse received national attention from the Capone trial. “Starting [Wednesday], the same thing is going to happen,” he said. “Our entire country — not just here locally — is going to have eyes set on this building.”