Moishe Mana's Mana Common Sells 30-Acre Wynwood Assemblage to Citadel's Ken Griffin for $1.1 Billion
Mana Common, the firm led by Moishe Mana, closed on the sale of approximately 30 acres of its Wynwood assemblage in Miami to Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin on Sept. 29, 2026, for approximately $1.1 billion, the company announced. Mana Common described the transaction as the largest land assemblage deal in Florida history.
The site is planned to become a new campus for Carnegie Mellon University.
Deal Details: Mana Common Sells Wynwood Land to Ken Griffin
Moishe Mana is founder and chairman of Mana Common. The buyer, Ken Griffin, is the founder and CEO of Citadel and the founder of Griffin Catalyst. The approximately $1.1 billion price works out to about $36.7 million per acre, or roughly $842 per land square foot, based on 30 acres equaling 1,306,800 square feet.
The transaction includes the Mana Wynwood campus, which has operated as a cultural and events venue. The planned Carnegie Mellon site is identified at 318 NW 23rd St. in Wynwood. Mana Common said it will continue to oversee operations and maintain existing events at the Mana Wynwood space for the foreseeable future. The company also retains more than 15 acres in the Wynwood area and said it continues to invest in the neighborhood.
Planned Carnegie Mellon University Campus in Wynwood
Carnegie Mellon announced a $3 billion gift from Griffin, which the university described as the largest individual philanthropic investment in higher education. Of that amount, $2 billion is earmarked for the Miami campus and $1 billion for Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh campus and broader academic priorities.
The Miami campus is planned to occupy more than 35 acres in Wynwood, indicating that the university's footprint may include land beyond the parcels sold by Mana Common. At full scale, the campus is planned to support more than 3,500 undergraduate, master's and doctoral students, with nearly 300 faculty members and more than 600 staff members.
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with graduate enrollment targeted for 2028 and undergraduate enrollment expected four years later, subject to regulatory approvals. Planned areas of focus include human health, biodiversity, national security, energy and climate resilience, advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.
Mana Common's 16-Year Wynwood Investment
Mana began investing in Wynwood in 2009, when the neighborhood was still largely abandoned and in the early stages of its transformation. His first major purchase was a distressed warehouse acquired for approximately $5 million that became Mana Wynwood. In total, Mana invested less than $70 million to assemble his holdings in the area, the company said.
Using only those disclosed figures, the sale price represents a gross value uplift of at least approximately $1.03 billion, or more than 15 times the stated investment, before operating, cultural, carrying, financing, entitlement and transaction costs. These are indicative calculations rather than realized profit figures.
Mana Common said Mana Wynwood became one of the district's largest cultural venues, hosting concerts, art fairs, productions and events including Miami Music Week and III Points. The company said Mana invested not only in property but also in street art, music, fashion, festivals and events, including approximately $2 million to $3 million annually in neighborhood culture.
Mana said his approach in Wynwood was informed by his experience in New York City's Meatpacking District, where he established Milk Studios early in the district's evolution, and in Jersey City's Journal Square, where he assembled approximately 2 million square feet of warehouse space and established Mana Contemporary as an arts and cultural center.
"From the day I stepped into Wynwood, I said this will be the sustainable culture hub of Miami and I am glad that it has come to fruition." — Moishe Mana, CEO and Chairman, Mana Common
"This sale isn't the end of our vision for Wynwood. It's a passing of the torch and an opportunity for someone else to build on what we started and take it even further. We created an ecosystem around art, culture and community, and now Ken has the opportunity to add another layer by bringing Carnegie Mellon, one of the world's great universities, to Wynwood. Education, technology, innovation and talent are a natural evolution of what we built." — Moishe Mana, CEO and Chairman, Mana Common
Market Context and Mana Common's Downtown Miami Portfolio
The sale reflects a shift in Wynwood from its initial creative and cultural redevelopment phase toward an education- and technology-oriented land use. Carnegie Mellon's planned presence could generate demand for housing, research space, retail, hospitality, student services and innovation-focused companies. The transaction's size, institutional end use and philanthropic funding make it difficult to compare directly with conventional apartment, hotel, office or mixed-use land sales.
Citadel and Griffin have an established financial presence in Miami, and the university investment links that presence to a planned research and workforce platform.
Mana Common did not announce a sale of its downtown holdings. The company said that over the last 11 years Mana has purchased around 80 properties in downtown Miami's Flagler District for approximately $600 million, assembling one of the largest privately controlled portfolios in the urban core. He also helped lead and fund the Flagler District beautification project. Mana Common said the district supports Mana Tech, which aims to attract technology companies and entrepreneurs to Miami and connect Latin American startups with the U.S. market, and Mana Fashion, which is building infrastructure connecting designers and manufacturers with buyers, sourcing, distribution and international markets.
"Wynwood was about creating Miami's cultural hub. Downtown is about something bigger. Miami has the opportunity to become the economic and innovation capital connecting North America and Latin America. I'm not developing one building. I'm building an ecosystem." — Moishe Mana, CEO and Chairman, Mana Common
Mana has framed his broader strategy as a "One America" vision of connecting the Americas, with Miami as a hub.