Renderings Revealed: Miami’s First Supertall, The Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences
The Miami skyline is about to change forever with the groundbreaking of the city's first supertall tower.
Developer PMG, along with partners Greybrook, Mohari Hospitality, S2 Development and Hilton, are set to start construction this month on the Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences at 300 Brickell Ave. in Downtown Miami, soaring 100 stories and 1,049 feet over Biscayne Bay.
The design, a collaboration between Sieger Suarez Architects and Carlos Ott, features nine glass-wrapped cubes in an offset stack.
The 360-unit condo portion of the project is already 87% sold, PMG said in a press release Sunday, to 50% domestic and 50% international buyers. The hotel portion, South Florida's first edition of the stately Waldorf Astoria brand, will have 205 rooms and suites.
“The groundbreaking of Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Miami signifies much more than the property’s vertical construction,” PMG President and CEO Kevin Maloney said in a statement. "As Miami’s first supertall tower and Waldorf Astoria’s first entry into the city, this achievement further designates Miami as a global destination and sets a new benchmark for luxury real estate paired with superior hospitality."
While most of the units in the building have sold, the remaining units are largely confined to the eighth cube, dubbed The Sky Collection, and penthouses in the ninth and tallest cube. The development's sales team, which is largely run by PMG in-house, already has more than $1B worth of sales committed to the units, which have interiors designed by BAMO.
“The market is thriving and projects like this are coming to life to meet the demand from our luxury audience,” PMG Managing Partner Ryan Shear said in a statement. “Working with our partners and the Hilton team behind Waldorf Astoria has been incredibly rewarding, and we look forward to continuing our upward momentum.”
The hotel's amenities will include the Waldorf Astoria's restaurant brand, Peacock Alley, event spaces, conference rooms, a pool deck with private cabanas and a wellness spa. Condo buyers get access to an owners-only lobby and lounge, a chef's tasting kitchen and an even higher pool. In addition to smart home technology, each residence gets access to the hotel's app, through which residents can order 24/7 room service, in-house care and dog-walking services.
Since its inception in 1931 in New York City, the Waldorf Astoria has been known to cater to royalty, cultural figures, political gurus, music stars and Hollywood celebrities. Its roots trace back to 1893 when developer William Waldorf Astor built the Waldorf Hotel on 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue and his cousin and developer rival John Jacob Astor IV built The Astoria next door. The cousins agreed to a pact and linked both developments via a 300-foot marble corridor known as Peacock Alley, leading to the inception of the united Waldorf Astoria.
The newest version of the tower comes as the Manhattan original is mired in a redevelopment plagued by delays, $1B cost overruns and the government takeover of its Chinese owner. This year, the brand opened its first hotel in Washington, D.C., when a Miami-based investment group acquired the lease on the Old Post Office Building from The Trump Organization for $375M and converted the controversial Trump International Hotel to a Waldorf Astoria.
PMG's project is just the latest ambitious luxury tower set to be added to Miami's skyline. Last week, Ytech announced plans for a 70-story tower in Brickell. Developers have been spurred on by the migration of wealthy technology and finance workers from the Northeast — and the condo purchases they have made. More than $180M of condos traded last month, the third straight month of increased activity, with an average price per square foot over $1,400, The Real Deal reported.
