Moishe Mana is still buying up land in downtown Miami in his quest of turning the historic downtown into a thriving tech hub and arts scene.
Mana picked up a 15,478-square-foot parking lot at 201 Southwest First Street for $6.9 million, or $448 per square foot. The property sits off the ramp to I-95 and across from the 33 Downtown Tower office building, also known as the Bank of America building
Kalback Holdings, led by Richard Kalback, sold the property to Mana. Kalback has done business with Mana before. In 2015, Kalback sold two parking lots at 115 Southwest First Street for a combined $7.25 million or 450 per square foot.
As of December, Mana had amassed nearly $375 million worth of properties downtown totaling over 1.3 million square feet of buildings on about half a million square feet of land. His goal is to create a vibrant tech and startup scene akin to Tel Aviv’s. So far, his dream has not become a reality, and many of the buildings on Flagler Street remain vacant or in disrepair.
Mana, who made his fortune in the moving and storage business, is now seeking to raise $400 million to $500 million in capital for his companies, from family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
The Mana Group finally unveiled a construction timeline for downtown Miami in late October 2019. At a community meeting, maps and renderings designed by Zyscovich Architects highlighted 11 buildings between Southeast First Street and North Miami Avenue that would be delivered between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2024.
Mana’s first project is to renovate the 166,365-square-foot, circa-1980 office building at 155 South Miami Avenue, which will be home to Miami International University of Art and Design as well as a startup hub.