Miami-Dade County school board vote advances mega mall plan

'American Dream' developer offers $7.25 million to school board to buy out lease-option

MIAMI – The Miami Dade school board unanimously voted Wednesday to give up its option to lease state land to clear the way for a proposed mega mall in return for more than $7 million and a possible million more in contributions.

On Wednesday, school board members voted in favor of selling the land to make way for the American Dream mall.

The move comes a day after Miami-Dade County commissioners voted 11-2 to act as broker for 80 acres of state-owned land being purchased by developer Triple Five.

Triple Five's Eskandar Ghermezian, developer of the Mall of America in Minneapolis, has plans to build a 4 million square-foot complex with stores and attractions, including a snow ski slope. He has already assembled a patchwork of 120 privately held acres, but needs 80 more acres owned by the state of Florida to fill in the parcel.

Triple Five has agreed to pay the state-appraised $12 million for the land by passing it through Miami-Dade County as the broker, plus is offering $7.25 million to the Miami-Dade County school board to buy out its lease-option.

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Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."