Commuters passing from Miami Beach to the mainland on the MacArthur Causeway have in recent months seen a soon-to-be iconic building on the Miami skyline start to take shape: the Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences.
The building, designed by Uruguayan-Canadian architect Carlos Ott and the architectural firm Sieger Suarez, is composed of nine cubes stacked on top of one another unevenly, giving the distinct impression that the entire 100-story structure could topple over. Standing at the base of the building, it's hard not to think about the force of gravity and wonder what keeps it upright.
" There are some things that were like optical illusions, like our core goes straight up, our elevator goes straight up. It may not look like that, but it does," Ryan Shear, the managing partner for PMG, the developer, told WLRN during a recent hardhat tour of the building. " The intent was supposed to be artistic in nature, where people would look up and say, 'Man, that's not a typical building. That's a unique structure.'"
Apart from the eye-popping design, the Waldorf Astoria Miami — expected to be completed in 2028 — will be the first "supertall" building in Florida. The designation "supertall" means that the building is over 300 meters, or 984 feet.
The building will soon be joined by several others that meet the same criteria. A block north of the Waldorf Astoria on Southeast Third Street and Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, PMG is making plans to build another supertal tower, the Delano Residences Miami.
Also in the works are several other supertall buildings in Miami: One Bayfront Tower, at the site of the former VITAS building just a few blocks north of the Waldorf Astoria. That project is gearing up to start construction, and is expected to be completed in 2030.
A few blocks from there, on the site of the James S. and James L. Knight Center and Hyatt Hotel on the Miami River will be the supertall Miami RiverBridge. City voters approved the project in a ballot referendum in 2022 and it is expected to be completed in 2030.
And finally, the luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana is getting ready to begin construction on the supertall 888 Brickell Miami, with expected completion in 2029.
None of the buildings will go higher than 1,049 feet, the height of the Waldorf Astoria Miami. The federal government limits the height of the buildings to protect the flight path for Miami International Airport, about 5 miles away.
For Shear at PMG, the city going from zero supertall buildings to a handful within a matter of years is a testament to the brand Miami has developed internationally, calling it a "feather in Miami's cap".
" I think it's now starting to garner the accolades of being a world-class city with the likes of London or Hong Kong or New York. And with that comes a lot of things, but one of them is real estate and the ability to build taller and more interesting buildings and different architects and different structures," he said.
Shear is from Miami and said that the growth of the city's reputation is a huge accomplishment, and that it could impact the city for years to come.
" There's a physical aspect to it, just that the building skyline looks different now from a purely aesthetic stance. It obviously will look different. I think these buildings attract a type of wealth and buyer, and with that comes a lot of positives as well," he added.
The hotel and the condos
The entire lot for the Waldorf Astoria Miami sits on one acre of land that sits across the street from the waterfront Bayside Marketplace. There were previously plans to build a supertall-sized observation needle called SkyRise Miami on a plot of public land next to Bayside, but those plans fell through and the view of the waterfront, Port Miami and Miami Beach from the Waldorf Astoria will be completely unobstructed.
" It will have unobstructed views forever. It's part of the reason I think buyers bought, part of the reason we bought as the developer," said Shear.
On the tour of the building, a WLRN reporter and digital producer visited the 80th floor. At that height, the building already peaks above anything else in the skyline; from a distance the luxury Cipriani Brickell, currently under construction, can be seen. But the Waldorf Astoria has already surpassed it.
The feeling of seeing the city from that height is that of descending into Miami International Airport on a flight, except you can walk around to look at all the angles. You can see the whole metropolitan area laid out before your eyes, from Miami Beach and Aventura in the distance to Coral Gables and Key Biscayne; dozens of floors under or feet, a helicopter passed below. The weather is noticeably cooler at that altitude.
Construction of the building is currently employing about 600 workers per day, who work in shifts. Stead expects the building to "top off" this year, meaning that the cranes will come down and fewer workers will be on-site every day, although it will remain around 400 to 500.
" I don't know that this would've happened 20 years ago for a bunch of reasons. I don't know if the code was there, that the constructability was there, but now it is," said Shear. "I think it's a testament to the city and where the city's going."
The first three cubes of the structure will serve as a 205-room hotel and feature the guest amenities. Cubes four to nine will feature the 360 private residential condos. The vast majority of the units have already been sold, said Shear, pointing to the interest the project has generated from luxury clients.
Much of the first cube will be a parking garage. The drop-off for hotel clients will be on the first floor, the drop-off for condos on level three, and the drop-off for a ballroom and wedding venue on level five.
" So, three different venues," said Shear. "You don't wanna mix all the venues."
Another perspective
Kheir Al-Kodmany, a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois Chicago, has studied the impact of supertall and megatall structures on city life, said there are generally two routes cities can take when entering into the sphere of supertall buildings.
The first example, Al-Kodmany told WLRN, is that of Dubai and Shenzhen in China, where the new supertall buildings are meant to serve as a hub, and the city is meant to grow around it. This route is carefully planned and meant to have a clear urban planning logic to the development.
But Al-Kodmany said Miami appears to be taking the other, unplanned route, like New York City and its so-called Billionaire Row on 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The supertall buildings along Billionaire's Row jut out from the rest of the skyline in a way that stands apart from the rest of the city. Walkers in Central Park can see the narrow supertall structures piercing the visual lines of the city.
" We call them pencil towers. They are, honestly, from an urban design perspective, ruining the skyline. You just say: 'What's going on here? There is no system, there is no harmony," he said. "They are ruining the New York skyline. We hope it doesn't happen to Miami."
PMG, the developer of the Waldorf Astoria Miami, was a co-developer of the 111 West 57th Street building, also known as Steinway Tower. That building sits at 1,428 feet.
The fact that the luxury towers in New York City are concentrated in one area also makes for a different dynamic Al-Kodmany said can negatively impact a city in the long run.
" It is a mega visual display manifesting socioeconomic disparity. You can visually see it," said Al-Kodmany.
Some supertall and megatall buildings like the SkyGarden in London and Shanghai Tower in China open sections of the uppermost floors to the public by offering restaurants, gardens and observation spaces to the local residents. Builders do this so that even if someone can't afford a unit, they can maybe feel pride in the progress signified by the height of the tower.
Again, Miami does not appear to be taking this route.
" They are doing the opposite. Exclusive. Private. Very few people are invited, so it is accessible to few people," said Al-Kodmany. "There's absolutely going to be some security issues."
The Waldorf Astoria Miami does have a restaurant planned for the 5th floor. A ballroom is also planned for a lower floor. But the top six cubes are for exclusive private usage.
The Waldorf Astoria Miami will be topped off by a penthouse dubbed the "Mansion in the Sky" that will span the top four floors and will include wraparound windows for a full 360 view of the city along with a private gym, a movie theater and a spa. Interior elevators will connect the floors. The condo was listed at $50 million in 2023, but the price that it sold for has not yet been disclosed.
" It's a buddy of mine. He's bought from us before. He likes our firm," said Shear. " I can't disclose his name because he's asked me not to disclose his name, but it's a custom penthouse. I mean, I don't know how many 35,0000 foot penthouses there are at 1,000 feet up in the air."
On top of the fourth floor will be a private court that can be used for basketball, pickleball or other sports alongside a private pool and cabanas.
"If you ever wanna get closer to the sun, I'd go hang out at this guy's unit because his sundeck has gotta be one of the highest out there," said Shear.
For all the excitement of bringing Miami's first supertall building to fruition, Shear said he doesn't know how many more he personally has in him. He wants to see the city continue to grow upwards, but someone else might have to do the work.
" They're very complicated. They're very time consuming," Shear said. "But they're very special."
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