Moishe Mana Pays $89M for Fort Lauderdale's 110 Tower

Moishe Mana has bought 110 Tower, the 30-story office building across from the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale, paying $89 million to Chicago-based GEM Realty Capital in his first major move into Broward County. The 777,248-square-foot tower at 110 Southeast Sixth Street sits on 1.72 acres and was built in 1987. Mana financed the deal with a $66.3 million acquisition loan from City National Bank of Florida, according to Commercial Observer.

Why it matters

Mana built his footprint on Miami’s Flagler Street and in Wynwood, buying distressed and undervalued buildings for cash and holding for decades rather than flipping. Crossing the county line into Fort Lauderdale, and doing it at a price 21 percent below what GEM Realty Capital paid for the same tower in 2016, signals he sees the same kind of discount-to-replacement-cost opportunity in Broward’s office stock that he has spent years finding in downtown Miami. For South Florida landlords still marking office buildings to pre-2020 valuations, a buyer with Mana’s track record paying a fifth less than the last trade is a fresh comp that argues the repricing is not confined to Miami-Dade. It also puts a large, occupied tower next to the county’s own courthouse into the hands of an owner known for slow-build, ground-up repositioning rather than a quick resale.

The numbers

GEM Realty Capital paid $112.9 million for 110 Tower in 2016, so Mana’s $89 million price marks a 21 percent decline over that decade-long hold. The $66.3 million City National Bank of Florida loan covers about 74 percent of the purchase price, a leverage level consistent with the acquisition financing on Mana’s recent Miami deals. Commercial Observer and The Real Deal both flagged, and both Mana and Ken Griffin denied, speculation that the timing ties to a 1031 exchange linked to Mana’s Wynwood holdings, which would mean sale proceeds elsewhere are chasing a replacement asset on a tax-deferred clock.

What’s next

Mana has not disclosed leasing or repositioning plans for 110 Tower, and neither report cites a broker of record for the deal. The building’s location next to the courthouse gives it a built-in government and legal-services tenant base that a buyer looking to hold long term, Mana’s stated pattern in Miami, would have little reason to disrupt quickly. Whether this purchase is a one-off or the start of a broader Broward push depends on whether Mana’s next disclosed deal lands inside or outside the county.