Moishe Mana keeps buying downtown Miami properties

Israeli businessman Moishe Mana, who has been buying up properties along downtown Miami’s Flagler Street, has again expanded his holdings.

Mana paid $7.8  million, or $262 per square foot, for a 29,748-square-foot retail building at 32 Southeast First Street, less than a block from the residential development Centro and the soon-to-open Langford Hotel.

The building, which was built in 1920, sits on a 19,775-square-foot parcel, which translates to a purchase of $394 per square foot for the land. The T6-80 zoning allows for development of more than 450,000 square feet and 448 units, according to a news release.

The latest purchase brings Mana’s downtown Miami holdings to 530,000 square feet of retail properties, and nearly five acres of land.

Mana bought the 32 Southeast First Street property from DPQ Associates Ltd., whose general partner is the Quittner Group, according to public records.

Shai Ben-Ami of Sterling Equity Commercial represented Mana’s company, 32-60 SE Holdings LLC, in the purchase. Mika Mattingly, also of Sterling Equity Commercial, represented the seller. The deal was completed February 26.

Last month, Mana also purchased the Thomas Center, at 172 West Flagler Street and 21 Southwest Second Avenue, for $5.1 million. The two-story property totals 26,083 square feet, and represents a strategic addition to his growing downtown Miami portfolio, because it connects Flagler to the burgeoning Miami River area.

“From a distance it may seem like Monopoly game moves, but rather than rolling the dice, Mana has engaged his instincts to assemble a critical mass in the downtown urban core,” Mattingly said in a statement, “which will soon reveal a compelling pattern and story.”