The Mormon Church bought a $174M industrial property near Miami. Why?

According to a report from The Salt Lake Tribune, the church is already one of Florida's largest private landowners.

The biggest industrial real estate purchase last year in Florida’s Miami-Dade County, totaling $174.3 million, was made by the Mormon Church. 

According to the Miami Herald, the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) bought six warehouses on a property in Hialeah, Florida, just north of the Miami International Airport. 

The Miami Herald confirmed the sale through multiple sources including real estate records. The LDS church’s investment branch, Property Reserve, purchased the 1.3-million-square-foot site from Codina Partners. 

It is not yet clear what the church plans to do with the massive property. According to a report from The Salt Lake Tribune, the church is already one of Florida’s largest private landowners controlling over 2% of the state’s landmass with a ranch in Central Florida and a forest property in the Panhandle region. 

The LDS church is among the top private landholders in the U.S., with properties valued at nearly $16 billion, The Salt Lake Tribune reported in 2022.