The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" mugs-mug- independentgroup__________________3/98605b4996e42408507987c4affd735f.jpg\\") ![](\\" mugs-mug- independentgroup__________________3/d34069b2fffce57ddf492536b7c1e859.jpg\\") Unite Here Florida PAC stated on August 16, 2018 in a TV ad: \"Gwen Graham owns a $14 million stake in her family’s company that’s behind the American Dream Mall. ... While Graham and her family will make millions, Florida will be stuck with poverty wage jobs, endangered wildlife and massive traffic congestion.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Environment * Jobs * Poverty * Florida * Unite Here Florida PAC ![\\"Amy](\\" By Amy Sherman August 22, 2018 # In Florida governor\'s race, ad attacks Gwen Graham for mega mall project Democrat Gwen Graham is facing attacks for her family’s role in the American Dream mega-mall project in Miami. Unite Here Florida PAC, a union group that represents service industry workers, launched a TV ad that refers to the Graham family and the project as \"their controversial mega-mall.\" \"Gwen Graham owns a $14 million stake in her family’s company that’s behind the American Dream Mall,\" says the text of the ad. \"60 percent of the jobs at the American Dream Mall will be low-wage. ... While Graham and her family will make millions, Florida will be stuck with poverty wage jobs, endangered wildlife and massive traffic congestion.\" The ad is running in advance of the Aug. 28 primary for governor. A union associated with the PAC has endorsed Philip Levine, one of Graham’s Democratic rivals. Levine said he is against the development, citing low-wage jobs and traffic. The ad overstates the role of Graham and her family in the project, and more context is needed about the low-wage jobs and impact on wildlife and traffic. The PAC sent us information from local news reports, as well as county records about the project. American Dream Miami mall project Graham Companies is involved in the mall project. But Graham has not served on the board for the company since she won elected office, and her family is not the project developer. When Graham started in Congress in 2015, she stepped down from the company and put all of her assets in a transparent trust. Graham owns about $13.7 million million in company stock, and made about $830,000 in income in 2017, according to her financial disclosure. Her campaign spokesman said she owns less than 1 percent of voting stock. Graham said if the state had to act on the project and she were governor, she would recuse herself and let her elected counterparts on the Cabinet make decisions. Graham has emphasized that her family isn’t the developer. \"My family is not building a mall. Period. End of story,\" she said during a forum in Jacksonville. It’s true that her family isn’t building the mall, but approximately 80 acres owned by the Graham Companies is under contract for purchase by the American Dream developers, said Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, the developer’s lobbyist. That piece of land is a little less than half of the 174-acre project. Triple Five, the company that developed Minnesota\'s Mall of America, wants to build the $4 billion mall project, which includes an indoor ski slope, hotel and a submarine lake. The project between Interstate 75 and Florida’s Turnpike in northwest Miami-Dade County is expected to draw 30 million visitors a year. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Byron Donalds stated on August 6, 2024 in an interview \"Tim Walz signed into law driver\'s licenses for illegal immigrants in Minnesota.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • August 9, 2024 Diaz de la Portilla said the amount of money the Graham Companies will receive from the land sale is confidential. Jack McCabe, a South Florida real estate research analyst who isn’t involved in the project, estimated that the 80 acres would sell for between $2.4 million and $6.5 million. The Graham Companies is also planning to build a mixed-used development on 300 acres south of the mall. In May, the Miami-Dade County Commission voted in favor of zoning approval for the mall. In July, the South Florida Regional Planning Council voted against the project but that is largely symbolic because the county and the state have authority. It still has to go through several other approvals before it is built. \"Poverty wage jobs, endangered wildlife and massive traffic congestion.\" County records show the American Dream will create about 14,530 permanent full-time jobs. About 64 percent of those workers would earn less than $25,000 a year. The federal poverty guideline is $25,100 for a family of four. For an individual it is $12,140. Diaz de la Portilla said the developer projects 25,000 permanent direct and indirect jobs based on the developer’s experience at other malls. He said the county used a specific model to project a range of direct jobs of 9,236 to 22,331. The project has drawn criticism from environmentalists, such as the Sierra Club and Everglades Trust. The trust endorsed Graham in spite of it. \"While we are fighting like the dickens to ensure the survival of the Everglades and the source of drinking water for eight million Floridians, mega-developers and projects like these continue to put it all at risk,\" said Everglades Trust executive director Kimberly Mitchell. The county staff analysis, which recommended approval, stated that the site contains wetlands. It also stated that the site is within the core foraging area of wood stork colonies and may provide habitat and/or foraging areas for several threatened and endangered animal species. The county’s environmental resources department drafted provisions within the development agreement related to stormwater management, natural resources and endangered species, Diaz de la Portilla said. The project is expected to generate 70,000 vehicle trips a day. Diaz de la Portilla said that the developer has to mitigate the impacts on the environment and the traffic, which includes spending more than $200 million on road infrastructure and public transportation. He said that the site has been inside the county’s Urban Development Boundary for over a decade. Our ruling A Unite Here Florida TV ad said, \"Gwen Graham owns a $14 million stake in her family’s company that’s behind the American Dream Mall. ... While Graham and her family will make millions, Florida will be stuck with poverty wage jobs, endangered wildlife and massive traffic congestion.\" The ad was imprecise when it said that her family’s company is \"behind the American Dream Mall.\" That could create a misleading impression that her family is developing the mall. Her family owns about 80 acres which is under contract for the developer, less than half of the future mall site. We don’t know how much Graham and her family will earn from the sale of the land, which is under contract, but one real estate analyst told us the sale could be for millions of dollars. Graham’s financial disclosure shows she owned $13.7 million in stock in the Graham Companies in 2017. Graham has not been on the board of her family\'s company since she won elected office. About two-thirds of the permanent jobs will pay less than $25,000. That is the federal poverty guideline for a family of four, but more than twice the poverty level for an individual. Plans show that the development site includes habitats for threatened and endangered species and will add to traffic in the area. We rate this statement Half True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Unite Here Florida PAC, TV ad, Aug. 16, 2018 Miami Dade County Commission, American Dream Mall application, May 17, 2018 Tampa Bay Times, \"How a mega-mall project became an issue in Florida governor race,\" Aug. 8, 2018 Tampa Bay Times, \"Jeff Greene says he sold his oil, energy investments as feud with Gwen Graham escalates,\" Aug. 8, 2018 Tampa Bay Times, \"Labor union launches ads targeting Gwen Graham over the American Dream mega-mall,\" Aug. 15, 2018 Miami Herald, \"Westward whoa: Planning board gives thumbs down to mega- malland 836 extension,\" Aug. 8, 2018 Miami Herald, \"Five things to watch for as Miami-Dade prepares for American Dream mega-mall vote,\" May 17, 2018 Miami Herald, \"Nation\'s largest mall wins Miami-Dade approval as county backs American Dream Miami,\" May 17, 2018 Tallahassee Democrat, \"Gwen Graham\'s net worth tops $14 million,\" June 29, 2018 WLRN, \"These Are The Wetlands Where Developers Plan To Build American Dream Mega-Mall,\" July 3, 2018 Orlando Sentinel, \"Commentary: Malarkey Meter vets claims by Putnam, Greene and Grayson,\" Aug. 10, 2018 AP, \"Miami-Dade approves megamall that would be largest in US,\" May 17, 2018 CBS4, \"Facing South Florida: One-On-One With Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Philip Levine,\" Aug. 12, 2018 WPLG ABC10, \"Panel urges Miami mega-mall be delayed over traffic concerns,\" Aug. 8, 2018 Sun Sentinel, \"Massive American Dream mall tricky for governor candidate Gwen Graham,\" July 26, 2018 South Florida Business Journal, \"North America\'s biggest mall and entertainment center coming:American Dream Miami approved,\" May 18, 2018 Interview, Austin Shafran, Unite Here Florida PAC spokesman, Aug. 14, 2018 Interview, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, lobbyist for Triple 5, developer of American Dream, Aug. 16, 2018 Interview, Matt Harringer, Gwen Graham spokesman, Aug. 16, 2018 Interview, Jack McCabe, McCabe Research & Consulting, Aug. 16, 2018 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Amy Sherman ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on July 16, 2024 in in a speech at RNC in Milwaukee: “Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 17, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on July 13, 2024 in a statement to the media: “The idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 15, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tom Cotton stated on June 16, 2024 in an interview on CNN\'s State of the Union: “The weapons that Ukraine used in the early days of this war to fend off the Russian invasion are the weapons that Donald Trump sent, that Barack Obama and Joe Biden had refused to send.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 2, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas: “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 14, 2024 in a speech in California: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on August 11, 2024 in an interview on CNN State of the Union: Gov. 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Gwen Graham owns a 14 million stake in her family’s company that’s behind the American Dream Mall While Graham and her family will make millions Florida will be stuck with poverty wage jobs endangered wildlife and massive traffic congestion