Key Takeaways
- • Miami-Dade County Commission voted on Tuesday to authorize Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, or a designee, to begin negotiating with billionaire hedge fund executive Ken Griffin on relocating the historic Villa Serena to the grounds of the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.
- • Villa Serena, a more-than-110-year-old Mediterranean-style home once used by three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, sits on the four-acre Coconut Grove bayfront estate Griffin bought from Adrienne Arsht in 2022 for nearly $107 million.
- • Griffin pledged $20 million to the Vizcaya museum to revitalize its farm village as part of the relocation plan, which was first announced last year.
- • Vizcaya spokesperson Charlotte Donn said the museum is "thrilled" with the progress, but noted that approvals from other regulatory agencies are still required and no negotiation timeline has been set.
- • Griffin has separately acquired the 121-year-old Jackson cottage in Brickell for about $3 million, and will move it to Coconut Grove, giving him ownership of the entire city block where Citadel is building its new global headquarters.
Summary
Miami-Dade County Commission voted on Tuesday to allow Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, or someone she designates, to begin negotiating with Ken Griffin over moving Villa Serena, a historic home on his Coconut Grove estate that overlooks Biscayne Bay, to the grounds of the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. According to the Miami Herald, the vote moves the project one step closer, though no timeline for negotiations has been disclosed. Citadel spokesperson David Millar declined to comment on the upcoming talks, and District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado, whose district includes both the estate and Vizcaya, did not comment on the vote.
Villa Serena is the Mediterranean-style home of Progressive-era politician William Jennings Bryan, a Democrat known for his pro-labor positions who spent his winters in Miami beginning in the early 1910s and lived there year-round by his death in 1925. Griffin bought the four-acre bayfront property from banker and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht in 2022 for nearly $107 million, at the time the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Miami-Dade. Arsht had restored the historic home and used it as a guest house, while living in a larger mansion on the estate. Griffin's net worth is estimated at $56.9 billion.
Griffin announced last year that he planned to move the building about a half-mile to Vizcaya, which was once the estate of businessman James Deering and is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the nonprofit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust. He also pledged $20 million to the museum to revitalize its farm village. In a statement, Vizcaya spokesperson Charlotte Donn said the museum is "thrilled" that the effort is advancing, adding that "there are still steps to take including approvals by other regulatory agencies."
The Villa Serena effort is not Griffin's only historic relocation. Earlier this year, the Miami City Commission approved his purchase of the 121-year-old Jackson cottage in Brickell for about $3 million. The building, which currently houses the offices of the Dade Heritage Trust, originally stood in downtown Miami and was the medical practice of physician James Jackson, for whom Jackson Memorial Hospital is named. The cottage sits across the street from the Brickell Bay Drive site where Griffin is building Citadel's new global headquarters, and since 2022 he has spent hundreds of millions of dollars assembling land between Southeast 12th and 13th streets. With the cottage purchase, he now owns the entire block. The cottage will be moved to Coconut Grove and will continue to serve as the Dade Heritage Trust's office.
Local historian Paul George said he hopes the county will "be careful" with the Villa Serena move, citing the 1984 collapse of the Charles Munroe Brown House on the MacArthur Causeway during an attempt to relocate it to Watson Island. George said he generally does not support moving historic buildings from their original sites, noting, "That's part of the context of the building — it's here. Why was it here?"
Villa Serena is the Mediterranean-style home of Progressive-era politician William Jennings Bryan, a Democrat known for his pro-labor positions who spent his winters in Miami beginning in the early 1910s and lived there year-round by his death in 1925. Griffin bought the four-acre bayfront property from banker and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht in 2022 for nearly $107 million, at the time the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Miami-Dade. Arsht had restored the historic home and used it as a guest house, while living in a larger mansion on the estate. Griffin's net worth is estimated at $56.9 billion.
Griffin announced last year that he planned to move the building about a half-mile to Vizcaya, which was once the estate of businessman James Deering and is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the nonprofit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust. He also pledged $20 million to the museum to revitalize its farm village. In a statement, Vizcaya spokesperson Charlotte Donn said the museum is "thrilled" that the effort is advancing, adding that "there are still steps to take including approvals by other regulatory agencies."
The Villa Serena effort is not Griffin's only historic relocation. Earlier this year, the Miami City Commission approved his purchase of the 121-year-old Jackson cottage in Brickell for about $3 million. The building, which currently houses the offices of the Dade Heritage Trust, originally stood in downtown Miami and was the medical practice of physician James Jackson, for whom Jackson Memorial Hospital is named. The cottage sits across the street from the Brickell Bay Drive site where Griffin is building Citadel's new global headquarters, and since 2022 he has spent hundreds of millions of dollars assembling land between Southeast 12th and 13th streets. With the cottage purchase, he now owns the entire block. The cottage will be moved to Coconut Grove and will continue to serve as the Dade Heritage Trust's office.
Local historian Paul George said he hopes the county will "be careful" with the Villa Serena move, citing the 1984 collapse of the Charles Munroe Brown House on the MacArthur Causeway during an attempt to relocate it to Watson Island. George said he generally does not support moving historic buildings from their original sites, noting, "That's part of the context of the building — it's here. Why was it here?"
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