Swire Properties has broken ground on The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Miami, a new condominium and hotel project on Brickell Key, after preselling roughly $1.7 billion worth of units before a single floor was built. The milestone, confirmed this week by Swire president David Martin, is one of the largest condo preselling totals South Florida has seen and signals that demand for ultra-luxury Miami real estate hasn’t cooled off.
The development will include a 66-floor south tower with 228 residences (already about 80% sold) and a shorter 33-floor north building combining a 121-room hotel with additional residences, roughly a quarter sold so far. Two penthouses reportedly changed hands for around $50 million each. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2030, with Swire self-financing the build using proceeds from its earlier sale of Brickell City Centre assets along with buyer deposits.
What stands out locally is who’s buying: about 65% of purchasers are domestic buyers, a notably higher share than is typical for Miami’s top-tier market, with many coming from California, New York, and Massachusetts and paying in cash. Martin pointed to finance and tech money flowing into the area as a driver, and noted roughly 30% of buyers intend to make their unit a primary residence rather than a vacation home — a sign that some of the city’s newest high earners plan to actually live here, not just park capital.
The project adds to a wave of major investment reshaping the Brickell Key and Brickell Avenue corridor, alongside Banco Santander’s new tower at 1401 Brickell Avenue and Citadel’s headquarters construction a few blocks south. For Miami-area small businesses, that kind of sustained high-end construction and relocation activity tends to ripple outward — more construction jobs, more demand for nearby dining, retail, and professional services, and a steady influx of new residents and workers looking for local businesses to patronize.
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Source: Insurance Journal