The Mana-Greene Effect: Big-Name Developers Not Moving on Downtown Properties
Wynwood developer Moishe Mana has bought nearly 50 properties in Miami's Central Business District but has announced no project timeline. Billionaire Jeff Greene got approval for an office tower in downtown West Palm Beach but hasn't broken ground. Are they affecting urban core growth?
October 29, 2018 at 06:00 AM
8 minute read
|
South Florida downtowns are on the cusp of growth that's put them on the map as major urban centers — yet two big-name developers have opted to sit on their downtown properties.
Moishe Mana, the Israeli-born entrepreneur best known as being one of the Wynwood redevelopment pioneers, has invested more than $301 million buying about 51 properties in Miami's Central Business District, but signs of his planned mixed-use project are yet to be seen. The exception is a recent announcement from his brokers that Mana's looking for Blockchain or other tech companies to lease six floors of offices at 100 E. Flagler St.
In downtown West Palm Beach, Jeff Greene, the unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate this year, hasn't moved on his project, the 30-story One West Palm office tower at 550 Quadrille Blvd., despite reportedly getting city approval more than two years ago.
Are the two big-name developers in turn then putting the brakes on downtown redevelopment? The answer depends on whom you ask.
A Boca Raton real estate attorney said yes.
“It certainly slows down the development,” said Andrew Blasi, shareholder at Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman & Hermann in Boca Raton. “I guess the reality is anybody is free to go buy land speculatively and land bank it. But of course if you get big developers going out and buying land speculatively and land banking it, it does nothing for the community redevelopment.”
Part of it, Blasi added, is the name recognition and celebrity-like status Greene has in Palm Beach County.
“Jeff is a very well-known, very highly regarded and a very prominent local figure,” Blasi said. “When people have that kind of prominence and celebrity, their name on things, certainly it forces people to notice more so than some(one) unknown. Certainly a developer with that kind of celebrity could move the needle perhaps more so that someone who is not that well-known.”
Mana and Greene didn't return requests for comment on the status of their projects, why they haven't developed and Blasi's assertions. When a reporter reached Greene by phone and explained the premise of the article, he said he's working on multiple projects and then asked questions be emailed to him, but he didn't reply with answers by the time this article went to press.
In August, shortly before the primary election Greene lost, he told The Palm Beach Post that he won't move on with One West Palm in part because the city approved the Okeechobee Business District for a part of downtown. The district allows buildings as tall as 25 stories in an area previously limited to five stories.
“As long as the city has an uncertain zoning climate, and thinks nothing of changing the zoning of a five-story building to 25 stories, most developers will be uncomfortable investing enormous amounts of capital,” Greene told the Post at the time. “Developers have to know what the rules are.”
As for Mana, his holdings are along and near Flagler Street, which was the main downtown drag during the neighborhood's heyday in the 1920s, and as such he might aptly name his project Flagler Village, said Mika Mattingly, who has brokered the majority of Mana's acquisitions there.
Mana's holdings aren't contiguous, but they are within walking distance from each other and will be redeveloped with an eye toward creating a walkable community, Mattingly, co-leader of the South Florida urban core division at Colliers International, has said.
His purchases include: The 10,949-square-foot, two-story building at 100 S. Miami Ave.; the 9,000-square-foot, two-story White Building at 201 E. Flagler St.; at least 25,624 square feet of offices at 100 E. Flagler St.; the 172,475-square-foot Biscayne Building at 19 W. Flagler St.; and the 27,078 -square-foot building at 55 NE First St.
“It's really just a waiting game. For him timing is everything, and he is prepared for that moment,” Mattingly said. “But I don't have a definite date.”
OTHER VIEWS
Not everyone agreed with Blasi's assertion that Mana and Greene are slowing the pace of downtown growth.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFowler White Burnett Opens Jacksonville Office Focused on Transportation Practice
3 minute readHow Much Coverage Do You Really Have? Valuation and Loss Settlement Provisions in Commercial Property Policies
10 minute readThe Importance of 'Speaking Up' Regarding Lease Renewal Deadlines for Commercial Tenants and Landlords
6 minute readMeet the Attorneys—and Little Known Law—Behind $20M Miami Dispute
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250