• Both sides denied deal talks earlier this year 

Ken Griffin and Moishe Mana with Mana Wynwood (Getty, Mana Wynwood)

• Katherine Kallergis

Ask a developer, broker or property owner in Wynwood about the big deal underway in the neighborhood, and you’ll get a different version of the same answer. 

“It’s already done” or, “It’s closing later this year,” they’ll say. Or, “Worst kept secret in Miami.” 

The deal? It’s developer and investor Moishe Mana’s sale of Mana Wynwood to billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin. The rumored price ranges from $700 million to over $1 billion — a record for South Florida real estate. 

Earlier this year, both Griffin and Mana denied the sale was happening, but the rumor mill has been working overdrive. Sources told The Real Deal that the majority of the deal has closed, and it’s expected to be completed by Moishe Mana’s birthday in December. 

Mana declined to comment, and a Griffin spokesperson stood by the company’s denial in January.

Mana has been on a spending spree, picking up real estate in Wynwood, downtown Miami and Alapattah. And Griffin has also made some moves — a broker linked to him arranged the $20.2 million buyout of the 35-unit buy at Wynwood Lofts, immediately north of Mana Wynwood. Griffin has not confirmed that he is the buyer of the Wynwood Lofts.

Mana Wynwood, at 318 Northwest 23rd Street, is a 30-acre property that includes the developer’s convention center, where TRDhosts its annual Miami Real Estate Forum. (The upcoming Forum is Nov. 4 and 5.) Mana’s Wynwood portfolio extends from Northwest 20th Street to Northwest 24th Street, and from Northwest Sixth Avenue to Northwest First Place, but it’s unknown if Griffin is acquiring all of it. 

Griffin could bring an AI/tech campus to the Wynwood expanse. The name of a well-known university is in the mix, as real estate insiders say a satellite campus could be part of the plans.

Griffin has already spent well over $1 billion on real estate from Miami to Palm Beach, including residential property. In Miami’s Brickell, he’s building a billion-dollar-plus tower fronting Biscayne Bay, which will serve as the headquarters for his Citadel and Citadel Securities firms. 

The Wynwood rumors began circulating last year and were amplified in January, when Griffin bought the 545Wyn office building, at 545 Northwest 26th Street in Wynwood, from Chicago-based Sterling Bay for more than $180 million. Goldman Properties and Griffin teamed up on the purchase.

There are other signs that something is brewing. Mana Wynwood is not booking major events more than a year out, according to sources. 

Mana’s recent buying spree could be part of a reverse 1031 exchange, which lets investors buy new properties before selling real estate and still take advantage of the tax deferrals. 

Restaurant broker Felix Bendersky, who owns F+B Hospitality Brokerage, is one of the influencers who has posted about the rumored deal on Instagram. Bendersky called it “one of the biggest deals in Miami history,” and mentioned the reverse 1031 exchange theory. SIGN UP

“Moishe’s big plan is to redevelop the much-anticipated Flagler Street project, which I really believe will transform Miami into a tech leader,” Bendersky said to his nearly 50,000 followers earlier this month. 

Mana has long planned to redevelop his portfolio in downtown Miami, where he spent over a decade assembling properties, including more than 80 buildings, along and near the historic Flagler Street. Late last month, he spent $33 million to acquire the Historic U.S. Post Office Building and site next door, and nearly two dozen commercial condos on the first two floors of the One Flagler building. In March, he paid $110 million for the One Downtown office tower. Mana also still controls a large portfolio in Allapattah, which is just west of Wynwood. 

Wynwood frenzy

The magnitude of the acquisition has spurred other investment in Wynwood, developers and brokers told TRD. 

Tony Arellano of Dwntwn Realty Advisors said the “widely accepted rumor” has led “very sophisticated and experienced real estate development companies” to invest around the event campus, home to the annual III Points music festival. 

Arellano and his partner Devlin Marinoff brokered the off-market sale of the Pastis restaurant building north of Mana Wynwood to Mana in July for $24.5 million. 

The Mana Wynwood sale would set a record for a development assemblage sale in South Florida and likely Florida. Oak Row Equities and Vlad Doronin paid $520 million last year for a Brickell assemblage, which holds the record. In 2022, Griffin paid $363 million for the 2.5-acre bayfront Brickell lot where he’s building his firms’ HQs. (Griffin also bought the condo building across the street, in a secretive deal arranged by Mario Borda, the same broker linked to the Wynwood Lofts bulk sale. Borda declined to comment.) 

When and if the deal is closed and announced, “we’re anticipating a huge spike in transactions,” Arellano said. 

He called the pending sale “transformational” for Wynwood and Miami. But it’s not just the money that makes the deal significant, industry experts say. Griffin is reportedly looking to move quickly on his future project. 

“[Griffin’s] investing billions of dollars into a new headquarters designed to attract the world’s top talent in finance, engineering, technology, and most importantly, AI. This isn’t just about building another office tower. It’s about creating an innovation ecosystem — the kind of place where researchers, software engineers, Wall Street guys, founders, venture capitalists all feed off of each other,” Bendersky said in his viral video. 

“And if you’re building that kind of campus, you definitely need a neighborhood around it. Walkable streets, restaurants, coffee shops, housing, nightlife, culture. That’s Wynwood.”