Mana Common Partners With Plug And Play To Bring Global Tech Accelerator To Downtown Miami

MANA Common, led by CEO and visionary entrepreneur Moishe Mana, has announced that it will partner with the global innovation platform, Plug and Play, to establish a presence within Downtown Miami’s Flagler District. Plug and Play, based in Silicon Valley, is the world’s largest global innovation platform and investor.

“Miami has always had the components to make it a global technology hub,” says Moishe Mana. “Now that remote work has allowed tech workers and founders to live nearly anywhere, we’re seeing an acceleration of Miami’s emergence as a leading city for tech.”

The collaboration aims to unite the most promising startups with the world's impactful corporations to drive investment, foster innovation, and secure collaborative partnerships across an array of verticals within the Miami tech ecosystem.

This marks the first Miami office for the tech platform, which besides its headquarters in the Silicon Valley has offices in dozens of cities including Paris, Tokyo, Chicago, São Paulo, and Shanghai.

"We look forward to being a dynamic part of the growing tech community in Miami,” says Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. “Our partners will bring their knowledge, expertise, and experience to help our startups grow. Connecting these key stakeholders and industry experts will expedite the digital and cultural transformation in a location ripe for explosive growth. We will work hand-in-hand with Mana Tech to find the founding partners to further develop the tech community.”

For Mana Common, the partnership is one of the first steps in executing their vision for the Flagler District as the economic center of Miami. Mana is Miami’s largest private landowner and their current efforts are focused on their dozens of properties surrounding Flagler Street in Miami’s Downtown core.

“This marks a huge milestone and opportunity for the Miami tech scene,” says Michelle Abbs, Managing Director of Mana Tech, one of the six divisions of Mana Common. “We’ve been actively listening and responding to the local tech community, and we’re excited to deliver a solution like this with Plug and Play who has successfully built complete innovation ecosystems multiple times. It’s the connection that the Miami tech and business communities have been lacking, until now.”

The annual program is designed to host two cohorts per year. Mana Common will co-host the first event with Plug and Play in Miami on February 16, 2021 intended to gather interest from the initial founding members that will jointly work in this project. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami Mayor Francis Saurez, and other corporate partners have confirmed their attendance.

Plug and Play’s platform includes an array of innovation protocols and a curated selection of startups, including the Miami tech entrepreneurs, that will help corporations bridge the gap to bring new products and services to market faster. Plug and Play will offer business development opportunities, mentorship, and networking for startups, investors, and corporations. Twice per year, the founding corporations will choose 10 to 15 startups to benefit from these opportunities.

Moishe Mana's Pedestrian Friendly Vision For Redeveloping Flagler Street Unveiled

Construction has been stopped on Downtown Miami's redevelopment of Flagler Street, a project which has seen over 7 years of planning, to discuss pivoting to a new plan proposed by Moishe Mana. Mana, one of Downtown Miami's major land holders, has proposed a new for the the transformation of Flagler Street. Mana is calling for a "curbless" street  with no raised sidewalks in addition to the removal of on-street parking. The changes would allow for a pedestrian friendly outdoor, high-street retail concept with outdoor restaurant seating and entertainment. The streets would also include lush landscaping and bollards for pedestrian safety. Changes to the original plan would cost Miami-Dade tax payers $6 million with funding coming from city, county, DDA and private investors but should the project get delayed county funding may be pulled. Construction is anticipated to take between 36-42 months. 

Todd Michael Glaser Proposes Micro-Rental Apartments on West Flagler Street in Downtown

In a joint venture between developers Todd Michael Glaser and the Posner Group, the corner of West Flagler Street and NW 8th Ave is in for a shake-up as Downtown Miami continues to be a hotspot for development. The proposed project will be a 20-story mixed-use project that will feature 100 micro-rental units that vary in size between 360 SF and 500 SF. Ground level will feature commercial space followed by parking and an amenity deck. The building will be designed by DOMO Architecture + Design and is currently under the approval process. Construction is expected to be around 18 months once the project is fully approved. 

The Historic Dade-Commonwealth Building to Become Hotel

Spain's OD Hotels will open their first Miami location with 169 rooms in the historic Dade-Commonwealth Building in Downtown Miami. The building is located at 139 N.E. 1st Street and was originally built in 1925. Under supervision of Architect Richard Heisenbottle, the building will have 10 floors added to the existing 7-story structure during the hotel conversion. This restoration will actually return the structure to its original size before it was damage by a hurricane in 1926. Dream Downtown Miami, LLC., a joint venture between a sister fund of the Paris-based Beekman REIM and Immocorp Capital, will lead the redevelopment effort. The parties originally purchased the property for $9.2 million in November 2015 and they planned to leave the property as-is for 2 years as they begin to develop the project. The hotel will be in close proximity to Downtown's Flager Street redesign efforts, Paramount World Center Miami and Brickell City Centre.