Moishe Mana’s got milk. The real estate mogul just bought Miami’s MacArthur Dairy
Moishe Mana, the largest private real estate owner in Miami-Dade County, is getting into the dairy business.
Mana purchased the Sunrise-based McArthur Dairy, founded in 1929, from Dean Foods for $16.5 million.
The purchase includes the dairy’s main plant in the burgeoning Little River arts district, along N.E. Second Avenue between 69th and 72nd Streets, plus a Fort Myers distribution center.
The milk will continue to flow. Though the plant’s 13 acres are located just steps away from the planned Magic City development in Little River / Little Haiti, Mana is holding off on any redevelopment, he said. He expects it will take two years to stabilize the faltering dairy business. After that, he may build a new plan and repurpose some of the currently occupied land.
“The milk business is competitive. It’s fine. We’re going to make protein shakes and plant-based products. Miami needs its own brand and identity,” Mana said.
Mana will work with one of the former bidders, New Jersey-based Cream-O-Land Dairy, to bolster dairy operations. Cream-O-Land is the majority stakeholder in the partnership, Mana said.
“You use real estate to invest in businesses. The idea is to take all of my knowledge and make a sustainable impact,” Mana said.
The company will keep the McArthur name but with a slight change: from McArthur Dairy to McArthur Next.
It will also retain the current 165 employees, said the new owners.
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Brothers Jay and Robert Schneier, Cream-O-Land’s owners, see the partnership as a way to expand their $300 million in sales per year. Founded in 1943 by the Schneier’s grandfather, Cream-O-Land has six manufacturing centers in the northeast. Eight years ago, it purchased a South Florida bottling plant and distributes 1.2 million gallons of milk from Florida weekly. The brothers will operate the dairy business.
The pandemic presents challenges, Jay said. “You normally have a certain amount of cows to keep up with the market — groceries, schools, restaurants, hotels. The cows are milked twice a day. When the food service goes down, a lot of the milk gets dumped because a lot has not been utilized.”
The purchase expands Mana’s already sizeable Miami holdings. The New York-based investor owns a significant chunk of Wynwood following his 2015 purchase of a free-trade zone — now used as a meeting and event venue — and property lining downtown Miami’s historic Flagler Street.
Colliers International broker Mika Mattingly represented Mana, who had the winning bid to acquire McArthur Dairy’s assets out of bankruptcy. Cary Cohen, a broker with Blanca Commercial Real Estate, represented Dean Foods and helped the deal close on Tuesday. Centennial Bank provided the financing for the deal.
Commercial activity remains strong, said Mattingly. “There’s an appetite to buy. Sellers will just have to recalculate on pricing expectations.” New York investors continue to shop local real estate, she said.
Sellers have provided 15% to 20% discounts to close deals, she said. “Anyone who can see beyond the short-term will do well.”
Rene Rodriguez contributed to this story.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
