DORAL

A short history of Doral

In the late 1950s, real estate pioneers Alfred and Doris Kaskel purchased 2,400 acres (9.7 km2) of swampland between Northwest 36 Street and Northwest 74 Street and from Northwest 79 Avenue to Northwest 117 Avenue for about $49,000, intending to build a golf course and hotel. In 1962, the Doral Country Club opened in western Dade County, featuring the blue, red, and par-3 golf courses, along with a hotel on Miami Beach. The "Doral" name is a combination of Doris and Alfred's names. As Doral's first structure, the Doral Hotel, and Country Club became the area's hot spot: guests were transported from the beach to the country club for a day on the golf course.

In the second year of operations, the Kaskels hosted the first Doral Open Invitational, Florida's major PGA event. Alfred offered $50,000 in prize money to attract well-known golfers and add credibility to the course. According to the South Florida Golf Foundation, at the time, only three other tournaments were held in Florida, offering a combined total of $65,000 prize money.

By the early 1980s, Doral experienced its first residential growth spurt, when Alfred's and Doris' grandson Bill developed Doral Estates, followed by a joint venture with Lennar to build Doral Park. Both communities were named after the hotel, a trend that was to be repeated many more times. Although younger families started flooding the area, there were no stores, schools, or parks. Initially, most new homes were investment properties or second homes, but early full-time residents started coming together as a community.

From 1983 to 1985, Miami-Dade County imposed a building moratorium to protect the area's water wells. Once the ban was lifted, Doral experienced tremendous growth. In 1989, Morgan Levy helped organize the West Dade Federation of Homeowner Associations to stand strong against proposals that threatened the community's welfare. Thus, they secured a police station instead of a jail and convinced county officials to implement higher development standards and more lighting, roads, and landscaping.

In 1995, residents began lobbying for incorporation in earnest, dissatisfied with the high tax rate relative to the services they received, as well as unchecked growth. The county met the first attempt at incorporation with a year's deferral. Some classified Doral as a "donor community", meaning that the taxes paid were more than the cost of operations. With the deferral, incorporation efforts intensified even more. In 1996, the community elected its first community council: Jose "Pepe" Cancio Sr., Mario Pita, and Barbara B. Thomas were elected, and three other members were appointed. The council initially met once every month.

In 2002, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Cancio to fill the remainder of Miami-Dade Commissioner Miriam Alonso's term of office. Doral residents hoped that his appointment would bring the community closer to incorporation, and their hopes were realized. Although Cancio endorsed Juan Carlos Bermudez, the City of Doral's first elected Mayor, as his replacement on the Community Council, Bermudez declined the offer, ran for the seat, and was elected. At the time, Bermudez was president of One Doral, a civic organization formed to counteract the perceived influence of the West Dade Federation on the new Council. However, both One Doral and the West Dade Federation proved essential to the incorporation process.

In January 2003, following a seven-year battle, 85% of Doral's voters voted in favor of incorporation. In June of the same year, 92% voted to accept the city charter, and elected their first mayor and city council.

The new City of Doral was named as an attractive location for entrepreneurs with an interest in the Latin America market. Mayor Luigi Boria, elected in November 2012, became the second Venezuelan-American mayor in the United States. He was replaced by Juan Carlos Bermudez who won a reelection bid in 2016. Mayor Bermudez was again reelected in November 2020 with 69.85% of votes for four more years to lead the community.

On December 13, 2022, during a run-off election, Doral voters made history by electing Doral's first female mayor, Christi Fraga, with 54.5% of the votes.

In 2025, Trump National Doral Miami was chosen to host the 2026 G20 Miami summit. The announcement was made by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez in the Oval Office and later confirmed by Doral Mayor Christi Fraga.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Doral, Florida, revision 1378768856 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.