Moishe Mana on hook for $6M-plus payment to Miami-Dade over decade-old land swap

Developer Moishe Mana could be on the hook for $6.6 million to Miami-Dade County tied to a decade-old land swap deal.

Mana, who is considered the biggest landlord in downtown Miami and Wynwood, had made a deal with Miami-Dade to trade properties in Wynwood, and he was supposed to develop a Puerto Rican community center and other facilities on one of the lots. But the project never came to fruition.

Now, Mana and the county have struck another deal. On Thursday, the Miami-Dade Appropriations Committee will vote on a new agreement, which frees Mana from having to develop the project — as long as he makes the $6.6 million payment and complies with other terms of the agreement. The county plans to use the funds to develop affordable housing.

Miami-Dade commissioners are expected to consider the item at their Nov. 4 meeting.

Miami-Dade “took the money and the land. That’s what I understand from them,” Mana said. “My lawyer has been dealing with it. But they need to get paid.”

Under the original 2015 land swap agreement, Mana was supposed to transfer to the county the 0.4-acre parcel at 2153 Northwest Second Avenue, and the county was to transfer to him a 1.4-acre property at 270 Northwest 23rd Street. Because the county was giving Mana a bigger, “more valuable” property, according to the memo included in the county committee item, he was supposed to build the Puerto Rican center, and offices for the Miami-Dade Community Action and Human Services Department and the district 3 commissioner at 2153 Northwest Second Avenue.

Due to environmental contamination on the development site, Miami-Dade and Mana tweaked their agreement in 2018, with Mana now transferring to the county the 0.4-acre site at 2900 Northwest Fifth Avenue where he also would build the 43,600-square-foot Puerto Rican community center and county offices. The project’s estimated cost was $8.4 million, and the county was to contribute $2.5 million from the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond.

The deal was amended twice in 2019 and 2020 to extend the construction deadline and allow for a smaller facility. In 2022, commissioners directed county staff members to re-negotiate the agreement entirely, this time removing Mana’s obligation to develop the project in exchange for the $6.6 million payment.

The county plans to build affordable housing at 2900 Northwest Fifth Avenue, partly funded with Mana’s payment.

Mana, who called this “an old deal” that “evolved” over the years, said it was Miami-Dade that decided not to build the Puerto Rican community center and other facilities.

Property records show the county transferred the site at 270 Northwest 23rd Street to Mana in 2015, and the parcels at 2153 Northwest Second Avenue and 2900 Northwest Fifth Avenue remain under the ownership of Mana affiliates.

Mana, who has come under scrutiny regarding his slow-moving projects in Miami, recently expanded his Wynwood portfolio. Last month, he paid $25.5 million for the 0.7-acre assemblage at 2200-2230 Northwest Second Avenue and 224 Northwest 22nd Terrace in Wynwood.

In July, he scored a $150 million refinancing for 56 Wynwood properties surrounding the Mana Wynwood Convention Center.

Currently, he is focused on his downtown Miami redevelopment, he said. He has described his plan as a campus, often using terms such as “connectivity” among the residents and companies.

He has been targeting tech firms in Latin America as potential tenants, mainly through his Mana Tech organization, he said on Tuesday.

“What people don’t understand is it’s not about the buildings. It’s really about the content,” he said, adding that the city’s permitting process is cumbersome and slow. “The idea is we are working on making Latin America and North America one economy.”

Will Moishe Mana’s dream for downtown Miami ever become a reality?