MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Billionaire Jeffrey Soffer pushed the University of Miami's department of athletic's dream of an indoor facility for football practice closer to reality on Friday.
The real estate developer and his family pledged to donate $14 million out of the $34 million needed to break ground and start building the 81,000-square-foot facility, which will be named after Soffer's mother.
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"I'm honored that my family and I can be part of this tremendous project," Soffer's mother, Carol Soffer, said.
UM spokesman Camron Ghorbi described the donation as "the largest" in the history of the department of athletics. UM released the renderings at the Soffer's family Fontainebleau Miami Beach.
Head football coach Mark Richt, who pledged $1 million of his own, said he was grateful for "Carol's generous and deeply committed support of Miami Hurricane athletics." Miami President Julio Frenk thanked the Soffer family on behalf of "the U family."
UM still needs $10 million more to start building the "Carol Soffer Football Indoor Practice Facility."