The Skyscraper-Filled Miami Neighborhood Where Housing Is Looking Up

Move over South Beach, the money crowd is moving to Brickell. 

Miami’s financial district, transformed into a walkable community with Michelin-starred restaurants, sophisticated shops and ultra-luxurious condo towers, sometimes called the “Wall Street of the South,” is becoming the hottest place to live in South Florida.

Ken Griffin’s 2022 announcement of Citadel’s global headquarters move to the Miami neighborhood only added to the excitement for a new flurry of luxury buyers there. In Brickell, the tag team of prime office space and prime housing have created the twin-engine fueling home values and more development.

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“Thousands of high-level employees with companies like Apple, Google, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Microsoft, and financial services companies have been moving to Brickell over the past few years from San Francisco, Chicago and New York City,” said Ana Gomez, sales director at Cipriani Residences Miami, a condo development under construction where prices range from $1.7 million to approximately $20 million. “There are so many tech companies here now that we’re starting to call Brickell ‘Silicon Beach.’”

As for Citadel, plans are underway for a $1 billion tower with a luxury hotel on the top floors to serve as its headquarters, with a completion date as yet unknown. In the meantime, 400 to 500 employees are anticipated to be working at the company’s interim Brickell headquarters by December of this year. 

Brickell and the adjacent manmade Brickell Key island offer a higher level of sophistication and luxury than other neighborhoods in Miami, said Adelina Wong Ettelson, global head of the Residences Marketing for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

“Brickell is one of the most prestigious areas in South Florida not because of companies like Citadel coming into the area but because there’s an alignment and reinforcement of the premium office space and luxury living that’s already in the area,” Ettelson said. “The Mandarin Oriental hotel opened on Brickell Key in 2000 even before Brickell was a financial center.”

As part of the ultra-luxury building boom happening in Brickell, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel will be demolished and replaced with two attached towers of residential and hotel space developed with Swire Properties with prices starting at $4.9 million. The new towers are anticipated to open in 2030.

Business and residential migration in recent years to South Florida due to the state’s favorable tax environment also contributes to Brickell’s appeal.

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“We’re seeing an unprecedented demand for new luxury residential buildings given the recent influx of major businesses relocating and establishing headquarters in South Florida,” said Camilo Miguel Jr., CEO of Mast Capital, developer of Cipriani Residences Miami. “In correlation, there has also been a growing interest for highly amenitized residences that offer a seamless lifestyle coupled with convenient walkability in a thriving neighborhood.”

Changing Brickell into a Mini-Manhattan

The introduction of high-end condos to Brickell in the 1980s ignited its transformation from a community of single-family homes, said Edgardo Defortuna, president and CEO of Fortune International Group, real estate developer for ORA by Casa Tua, a 76-story mixed-use development in Brickell that will include 540 condos slated to open in 2028.

“In the 2000s, when the Icon Brickell condo towers opened, that took prices significantly higher for the neighborhood,” Defortuna said. “Then, when Brickell City Centre opened in 2016, that was a gamechanger for the area because it added shops, restaurants and walkability. Now, with Citadel and other companies coming into the neighborhood, it’s just adding to the boom in development.”

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Swire Properties, the developer of Brickell City Centre, has been active in Miami for 40 years, said David Martin, senior vice president of retail for Swire Properties’ Brickell City Centre.

“Initially we focused on Brickell Key, a gated man-made island we developed with condos and the Mandarin Oriental hotel,” Martin said. “A big change came to Brickell when we acquired five or six sites inland in the aftermath of the financial crisis. We built the mixed-used Brickell City Centre into retail, office, hotel and residential space that crystalized to become the focal point of the neighborhood and turbocharged development there.”

Brickell’s density of high-rises and office space give it the feel of Midtown Manhattan, but the financial center is still a long way off from Manhattan home prices and a relative bargain to its Northern counterpart. In Brickell, the median condo sales price in the first quarter of this year was only $662,000, up roughly 6% from a year ago, according to the latest Miami report from Douglas Elliman. It’s not even the priciest condo market in mainland Miami, with typical units in the city’s affluent Coconut Grove area selling for 30% more.

Consumer preferences, particularly over the past five years, have turned toward pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, Martin said.

“The fact that Citadel and other companies are choosing Brickell for their offices is because of what’s already been done here over the past decade to develop the neighborhood,” Martin said. “The leaders of these companies know that locating in a neighborhood like Brickell will help them attract employees.”

As more companies and executives move to the area, more professional service providers will be needed, which in turn will drive further growth in Brickell, Martin said.

Brickell Lifestyle

The combination of business, retail, hospitality and residential development in Brickell’s urban core fuels more development, Defortuna said.

“It’s pretty significant that you can live and work here without a car,” Defortuna said.

As Gomez pointed out, Brickell residents can get to the beach and marinas in 10 minutes, to Miami International Airport in 15 minutes, take the Brightline train to other Florida destinations or jump on the Metromover people mover system to get to cultural attractions such as the Perez Museum and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and more shops and restaurants.

While Miami continues to draw both international and domestic buyers looking for second, third and fourth homes for vacations, business growth in Brickell and downtown Miami is generating more need for primary homes, too.

“When we started sales at Cipriani Residences Miami many of our buyers were from Mexico, Argentina and Columbia,” Gomez said. “More recently, our sales are primarily people relocating from California, New York, Chicago and other parts of Florida. Many of the buyers now are CEOs of major companies who plan to use this as their main residence.”

Brickell’s Amenity-Driven Residential Boom

Though luxury condos have been part of the fabric of Miami for decades, the Brickell neighborhood has evolved into the prime location for both foreign and domestic buyers and for those looking for an occasional home or a primary residence, said Christa Dabkowski, senior vice president, marketing and communications for Swire Properties.

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“There’s an elevated understanding of what luxury means,” Dabkowski said. “Whether they are branded residences or not, people want the feel of hotel-level amenities in a private home. They like the idea of being close to the urban core but also in an exclusive building or neighborhood.”

Amenities at Cipriani Residences, for example, include resident-only access to the Cipriani restaurant and corporate rooms that can be serviced by the restaurant, Gomez said, which appeals to business leaders. In addition, the development includes two pools, a spa, a golf simulator, a library, a fitness center, a pickleball court, private limo service in a 3-mile radius around the building and “five-star” service within the residences, she said.

The Residences at the Mandarin Oriental on Brickell Key have been designed in two buildings on a 3.5-acre waterfront site with restaurants, bars, meeting and event spaces, a spa and the high level of service associated with the hotel. Besides traditional hotel rooms and private residences, the tower will include 28 “hotel residences,” which are one or two-bedroom fully furnished apartments that can be purchased by individuals and made available as hotel suites when they are not in use by the owners.

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“This is a new idea in our premium markets for people who like the idea of a hotel-managed apartment for their second, third or fourth home,” Ettelson said. “Many Brickell buyers are permanent residents, so they’re more likely to buy in the fully residential tower, which has 220 two- to four-bedroom homes with water and city views.”

At ORA by Casa Tua, residents will have views of Brickell, Biscayne Bay and Coconut Grove from their condos as well as indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, including multiple restaurants, a market, two swimming pools and a three-story high open air garden. A private Casa Tua club for residents and club members will be located on the 77th floor.

The fully furnished residences at ORA will start at $800,000 for a 500-square-foot studio up to 2,400-square-foot units with four bedrooms. The condos can be offered as short-term rentals through ORA.

“The smaller condos can be rented for three days at a time, while the larger ones on the upper floors that range from 1,200 to 2,400 square feet can be rented for a week or longer,” Defortuna said. “The larger condos are more likely to be used more often by permanent residents, but this gives them flexibility if they want it.”