South Florida by the numbers: Wynwood’s billion-dollar momentum

Billionaire Ken Griffin acquired a large Wynwood property assemblage from Moishe Mana for $1.1 billion, according to The Real Deal's "South Florida by the numbers" feature. Griffin did not acquire the entire Mana portfolio. The holdings extend from Northwest 20th Street to Northwest 24th Street and from Northwest Sixth Avenue to Northwest First Place, and include the 30-acre Mana Wynwood convention center. The transaction paved the way for Carnegie Mellon University to establish a sprawling Miami campus in the neighborhood.

Griffin has committed $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon, the largest individual gift in the history of American higher education. The gift includes $2 billion for the Miami campus and $1 billion for the university's Pittsburgh operations. Carnegie Mellon is known for research in artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics, health and biological discovery, national security, and energy and climate resilience.

The planned Wynwood campus will cover more than 35 acres and is designed to organize learning and inquiry around societal challenges rather than academic majors alone, according to the university. Once fully developed, Carnegie Mellon Miami is expected to serve more than 3,500 students, with nearly 300 faculty members and over 600 staff. Commercial real estate participants in the area expect this population to drive demand for multifamily, retail and office space in Wynwood, with spillover effects across Edgewater, the Design District, Midtown Miami and downtown Miami.

Griffin and Steve Ross also committed $10 million to the Ambition Accelerated campaign, led by the Florida Council of 100 to persuade business leaders to build or relocate companies in Florida. The article characterizes Griffin's gift and Ross's earlier effort to bring a Vanderbilt University campus to West Palm Beach as extensions of that campaign, providing academic infrastructure intended to attract talent and investment.