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Carnegie Mellon University is coming to Miami with the launch of a new campus in Wynwood, backed by billions in support from hedge fund executive and philanthropist Ken Griffin, the deal’s principals told the Miami Herald in an exclusive interview.
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The high-tech campus seems sure to trigger the latest transformation of the neighborhood that in recent years found new energy with murals and nightlife. Griffin said the neighborhood’s proximity to downtown and popularity with young people made it a “wonderful” location for a college campus.
Griffin donated $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon, with $2 billion for the Miami campus and $1 billion for the university’s main campus in Pittsburgh. It is Griffin’s largest-ever gift and the largest single gift by an individual to an institution of higher education, according to a news release from Carnegie Mellon.
“This may be the most impactful investment I will make in my lifetime — both for Miami and for our nation,” said Griffin, the Citadel CEO who relocated to South Florida in 2022.
The Carnegie Mellon campus will take over what is now Mana Wynwood, a convention center in the heart of the former warehouse district. Moishe Mana, the founder and chairman of Mana Common who for years was Wynwood’s largest private landowner, confirmed he sold around 30 acres of his Wynwood holdings to Griffin for about $1.1 billion. A news release from Mana Common called the sale “the largest land assemblage deal in Florida history.”
Mana bought the property in 2010, years after a failed attempt by the county to turn the area into a free-trade zone. He developed the site at 318 NW 23rd St. into a venue that hosts music festivals, expos and conferences.
“This sale isn’t the end of our vision for Wynwood,” Mana said in a statement. “It’s a passing of the torch and an opportunity for someone else to build on what we started and take it even further.”
Mana will retain more than 15 acres in the area, the news release said.
The Wynwood campus will be called Carnegie Mellon University Miami, Griffin and Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian said. It will span 35 acres and support more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students, 300 faculty and 600 staff. Construction is expected to begin next year with enrollment planned to begin in 2028.
Carnegie Mellon, a private research university with additional campuses in Silicon Valley, Rwanda and Qatar, is ranked No. 14 nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent university rankings. The university known for its STEM programs and fine arts curriculum.
The university’s school of computer science in Pittsburgh, ranked No. 1 in the U.S., will receive $500 million and be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. Griffin will also join the university’s board of trustees.
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The university’s entry into Wynwood comes after decades of transformation in the neighborhood. Once an industrial area with wholesale garment factories, Wynwood has become a hub for arts and tech. In that way, Jahanian said the area is similar to Pittsburgh, which was once the capital of the world’s steel industry.
The now-trendy neighborhood is known for its galleries and studios. And in recent years, tech companies have also started to move into the area. Amazon reportedly signed a lease for more than 75,000 square feet of office space in Wynwood last year.
Griffin partnered with Goldman Properties earlier this year to buy 545 Wyn, an office building at 545 NW 26th St., for $181 million. Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has offices in 545 Wyn, and the fintech firm MIAX opened its trading floor in the office building last year.
Wynwood’s proximity to downtown is one reason the area was chosen for Carnegie Mellon’s campus, Griffin said. But he added, the fact that it’s a place young people gather on weekends makes it “a wonderful location for a college campus.” Wynwood has a vibrant restaurant and bar scene. Jahanian said plans for the area include dormitories for students.
Griffin said Carnegie Mellon’s expansion into Miami will allow the city to capitalize on recent tech growth. He expects the campus to lead to more local jobs in fields like robotics, energy and manufacturing.
“Carnegie Mellon has really helped to drive a renaissance in Pittsburgh,” Griffin said. “We’ll enjoy the same benefits in Miami from this institution.”
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Jahanian said the new campus, which will grant degrees, will first focus on tech and innovation. Although Carnegie Mellon is known for its arts programs, especially its school of drama, he said the campus would not offer programs in the arts for now.
Instruction at Carnegie Mellon University Miami will focus on addressing “grand societal challenges” in areas including health, national security, climate and manufacturing, Jahanian said. He added that programs at the Wynwood campus will include opportunities to collaborate with the public sector and private companies.
The university’s Miami campus plans a partnership with Miami-Dade College, Jahanian said. He expects the university to partner with other local schools as well.
Griffin and Jahanian were quick to point out that Carnegie Mellon’s Miami hub will not be a “satellite campus.” Griffin said it would be more like a “sister” or “peer” campus.
“The goal is not just to take successful departments and say, ‘Oh, let’s have a small version of it in another city,’” the university president said. “From day one, we’re going to integrate the two campuses together.”
Carnegie Mellon’s move into Wynwood, which had been rumored for months, fits into Griffin’s broader goals for Miami and South Florida.
Griffin has been one of the region’s biggest cheerleaders since moving Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022. Since then, he has invested heavily in healthcare and education in the region, two sectors in which he has said South Florida needed to improve to continue attracting newcomers and keep up with the attendant population growth.
And as South Florida has made headlines as a magnet for the ultra-wealthy, Griffin has continued to encourage businesspeople to come to the Sunshine State. Griffin, who is worth an estimated $57.6 billion, has made it clear he thinks South Florida is an emerging hub for tech, finance and wealth.
Across the region, high-profile companies have been opening or expanding South Florida offices. Defense tech company Palantir moved its headquarters from Denver to Aventura in February, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., quadrupled its Miami office space in July. Some of the world’s wealthiest people, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have recently bought real estate in Miami-Dade.
The state’s low-tax, business-friendly environment is one reason Griffin encourages business leaders to come to Florida.
Along with fellow Florida billionaire Stephen Ross, Griffin launched a campaign earlier this year to bring more businesspeople to South Florida. Both men started their companies in other states but have since relocated to South Florida and are encouraging others to do the same.
Ross, a real estate developer and the owner of the Miami Dolphins, has been involved in a project similar to Carnegie Mellon’s Miami campus. He has donated $50 million to Vanderbilt University’s planned graduate campus in West Palm Beach, where construction began at the beginning of 2026.
Griffin was born in Daytona Beach, and he spent much of his childhood in Florida. He graduated from Boca Raton Community High School before attending Harvard University. He said when he was growing up in Boca Raton, there were few options to stay in Florida and study computer science.
Griffin said he hopes Carnegie Mellon’s presence in Miami will encourage kids who grew up in South Florida to stay in the region.
“This university means a young man or woman can graduate through high school and stay here in Miami and have an absolute world-class education,” Griffin said. “And when they graduate, they will have great career opportunities here in South Florida.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2026 at 2:00 AM with the headline “Exclusive: Major college coming to Miami with $3B boost from billionaire Griffin.”
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