Selling Miami’s future | Mika Mattingly | Colliers International Urban Core Division | Page 4

COVER STORY
STORY
COVER

Pubbelly Boys Group created PB Station, a bar and restaurant, in the Langford Downtown Miami

FINDING OPPORTUNITY
AFTER THE CRASH
Mattingly, who is now part of Colliers
International’s urban division, happened
to be in the right place at the right time to
work with Mana on the transactions.
She entered the real estate business in
2008 and worked for Majestic Properties
and Metro One Properties, but then struck
out on her own. “It’s good to be a rogue
agent as a woman, because you make a lot
of friends,” she says.
Mattingly met Mana through the owners
of Gigi and Bardot, the popular restaurants
in the Wynwood neighborhood.
“They knew how cool the downtown
was. I had all the inventory, but I didn’t
have any of the buyers,” she says. “He
had never set foot downtown, but he fell
in love.”
Only two of the 42 buildings that Mana
bought were listed for sale, Mattingly says,

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DECEMBER 2016 • www.sfbwmag.com

but she had already knew about a lot of the
owners. Some of the buildings had not
traded hands in 100 years.
Mattingly describes Mana as charming
and nice. “He was my secret weapon in
getting the deals done. It was a two-year
whirlwind with him,” she says.
Signs of the transformation are cropping
up even before Mana unveils details of
his plans. One example is the Langford
Downtown Miami, which is in a 1925
Beaux Arts building listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Its ground-floor
PB Station restaurant and rooftop Pawn
Broker bar are hot spots for downtown
workers.
Mattingly has the listing for the historic,
five-story, 48,847-square-foot Walgreen’s
building at 200 E. Flagler St., which is
home to the La Epoca department store.
Mattingly is full of historical stories as
she gives a tour. Charles Walgreen was a

major purveyor of alcohol, which druggists
could prescribe during Prohibition, and
was friends with Al Capone, she says.
There was a tunnel from Walgreens to the
Olympic Theater, which had gambling.
Mattingly showed an unused bank vault
in one building and told how there was a
chute for Capone to throw money down.
MANA LIKES
HISTORICAL STRUCTURES
While downtown has a historical
designation, it’s not a protected district,
so some buyers may tear down structures
as desired. But don’t count Mana among
them.
“I like the older stuff; I’m a bit
sentimental in that way,” he said in an
interview with Trillionaire magazine.
(Mana was traveling overseas and couldn’t
be reached by SFBW for an interview.)
He made an analogy about downtown.