Moishe Mana is still assembling his downtown Miami Monopoly board. The Miami and New Jersey developer paid $24.5 million to acquire the Biscayne Building.
Mana bought the 14-story, roughly 154,000-square-foot building at 19 West Flagler Street, Colliers International South Florida broker Mika Mattingly told The Real Deal. It marks his 39th deal and more than $300 million spent along Flagler Street and the surrounding area over the past few years. Mana has led new investment in the area in terms of volume, where the majority of buyers over the past two years are from New York.
“Moishe has acquired a critical mass of buildings in downtown to be able to reposition them … ” Mattingly, who has represented Mana on nearly all of his downtown Miami deals, said in a press release.
The deal closed on Friday. Colliers broker Boris Kozolchyk represented the seller, Biscayne Building Inc.
Records show Biscayne Building, led by Dante Fiorini, has owned the 1925 building since at least the early 1980s, but previous sales information was not available. The building, built in 1925, was home to the Bank of Biscayne and later the FBI, according to the release.
Recent deals in the area include the sale of a Miami-Dade County courthouse building at 22 Northwest First Street for $22 million and the Courthouse Tower, which sold in March for $28 million.
Mattingly has said that the buying period is coming to an end for the Flagler district. Mana has plans to eventually redevelop his portfolio into retail, office and residential projects. He received approval for a 49-story, micro-unit apartment tower at 200 North Miami Avenue in July.
Other investors, such as Danny Lavy and Daniel Pena, are also banking on the neighborhood’s potential. Pena recently opened the Langford Hotel, a former bank building, earlier this year.