MIAMI (VINnews) — Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is nearing a purchase of the Mana Wynwood complex from Israeli-born developer Moishe Mana in a transaction rumored to be worth $700 million to more than $1 billion, sources told The Real Deal, in what would rank among the largest real estate deals in South Florida history.

The 30-acre property at 318 Northwest 23rd Street includes Mana’s convention center and sits in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. Sources said most of the deal has already closed and that it is expected to be completed by December, around Mana’s birthday. It is unclear whether Griffin would acquire Mana’s entire Wynwood portfolio, which stretches from Northwest 20th Street to Northwest 24th Street and from Northwest Sixth Avenue to Northwest First Place.

Both sides denied talks of a sale earlier this year. In January, Mana and a Griffin spokesman told The Real Deal there was no deal. Mana declined to comment on the latest report. A Griffin spokesman stood by the earlier denial.

Griffin, founder of Citadel and Citadel Securities, has spent well over $1 billion on South Florida real estate, including residential properties and a planned headquarters tower in Brickell. In January he and Goldman Properties bought the 545Wyn office building in Wynwood for more than $180 million. A broker previously linked to Griffin also arranged a $20.2 million buyout of 35 units at Wynwood Lofts, immediately north of Mana Wynwood. Griffin has not confirmed he is the buyer of those units.

Industry sources say Griffin could use the site for an AI and technology campus and that a well-known university has been discussed as a possible satellite campus partner. Restaurant broker Felix Bendersky called the rumored sale “one of the biggest deals in Miami history” and said Griffin is investing to attract talent in finance, engineering, technology and AI.

Mana has been buying properties in Wynwood, downtown Miami and Allapattah. Those purchases could be part of a reverse 1031 exchange that would allow him to defer taxes while he focuses on a long-planned Flagler Street redevelopment in downtown Miami. In recent months he paid $33 million for the historic U.S. Post Office building and nearby condos and $110 million for the One Downtown office tower.

Tony Arellano of Dwntwn Realty Advisors said the widely circulating rumor has already drawn other sophisticated developers to invest near the site, home to the annual III Points music festival. He called a completed sale “transformational” for Wynwood and Miami and said a public announcement would likely trigger a spike in nearby transactions.

The current record for a South Florida development assemblage is $520 million, paid last year for a Brickell site. Griffin previously paid $363 million in 2022 for a 2.5-acre Brickell waterfront lot where he is building his firms’ headquarters.

Mana Wynwood has not been booking major events more than a year out, sources said. Neither Griffin nor Mana has publicly confirmed the transaction.