Owners file with the FAA for a supertall on the Yacht Club site
Four big Brickell projects, and how much of each is still only on paper
One foot. On the FAA's numbers, that's the whole margin between the 1,042-foot tower now proposed for the Yacht Club site and the Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami, which is still climbing.
Few bayfront parcels this big remain in Brickell. This one spans 4.25 acres with about 485 feet on Biscayne Bay, and its owners, OKO Group, Mariposa Real Estate and Oak Row Equities, have asked the FAA to clear a 1,042-foot tower there. It would first replace the Yacht Club Residences, a 31-story, 357-unit rental building finished in 1998. Early plans call for luxury condos and a hotel concept.
By the FAA's numbers, the new tower would top the Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami, still under construction, by a single foot. That makes it a contender for Miami's tallest, not a sure thing: the Dolce & Gabbana Residences is also on the city's growing list of planned supertalls. Either way, it would sit under Brickell's FAA ceiling of roughly 1,049 feet, a limit measured from mean sea level rather than from the ground.
Phase two would replace the 1985 office building at 1001 Brickell Bay Dr. with a new tower. The FAA cleared 765 feet there in 2024, but the partners have since filed for a crane reaching 989 feet, which suggests the replacement could grow too. The crane filing runs from July 1, 2027, to Dec. 31, 2028, so work could start sooner than once expected.
The partners paid $520 million for the land early this year, a Florida land-sale record that stood until Ken Griffin recently closed his $1.1 billion all-cash Mana Wynwood deal. Every recent filing, the supertall included, is still waiting on approval.
Mercedes-Benz Places financing has signed term sheets but no closing
Mercedes-Benz Places Miami is supposed to be the carmaker's debut residential project in North America, and for now, work there is stalled. A fix exists on paper: a proposed financing package totaling $1.11 billion for Mercedes-Benz Places Miami, which has not closed. J.P. Morgan's piece is an $860 million construction loan, and Nuveen's reported share, about $250 million, would come through C-PACE, a clean-energy financing program.
Sources told Commercial Observer to expect a closing before the end of 2026, and crews could return if it happens. No restart has been confirmed.
JDS, the original developer, now shares the project with Jeffrey Soffer's Fontainebleau Development, which joined this year amid a foreclosure lawsuit. Until the money lands, this is a path forward, not a rescue.
Swire breaks ground on two Mandarin Oriental towers at Brickell Key's south end
The old Mandarin Oriental hotel and its parking garage were imploded in April. Now Swire Properties has broken ground at 500 Brickell Key Dr. on a 66-story South Tower with 228 homes, plus a North Tower of 33 stories that pairs 70 homes with the hotel. Earlier reports put their heights at 850 and 426 feet.
Swire says residential sales across both towers top $1.7 billion. Two separate buyers each agreed this year to pay $49.9 million for a crown penthouse, deals Swire says set mainland Miami condo records on both overall price and price per foot, about $6,300 a square foot. About 80% of South Tower homes are sold, and a quarter of the North Tower has sold since its sales gallery opened in May. Remaining South Tower homes start at $7 million, and remaining North Tower homes at $4 million.
Kohn Pedersen Fox designed the project, Moss is the general contractor, and completion is set for 2030. Until then, Brickell Key's south end is a construction site.
888 Brickell's developer wants a minority partner for its supertall
Avery Klann, Hampton Beebe, Marcella Fasulo and Adam Spies of Newmark are shopping a stake in the 888 Brickell site to investors, The Real Deal reported. JDS, Michael Stern's firm, plans to remain in the project and wants only a minority equity partner, a setup Haute Residence calls "a partial recapitalization rather than an outright sale." No target amount, timeline or prospective investor has been named.
The tower was the first residential project announced under the Dolce & Gabbana name. Its height, unit count and amenities are a plan that "could change" as design, financing and approvals move along.
JDS bought the half-acre lot for $61.2 million in spring 2024, using a $35.7 million acquisition loan from G4 Capital Partners. One source now puts its value above $100 million, though that is neither an appraisal nor a sale price. No construction start or delivery date has been reported.