Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale vs. St. Regis Residences Fort Lauderdale (Bahia Mar): Five-Star Beachfront Brands Face Off
Quick Summary
- Four Seasons is completed and resale-driven; St. Regis Bahia Mar is pre-construction
- Compare service ethos: Four Seasons wellness focus vs St. Regis Butler tradition
- Location and lifestyle diverge: oceanfront tower vs marina-centered resort setting
- Use brand programs, design teams, and supply counts to calibrate value and risk
The new shorthand for luxury in Fort Lauderdale
In Fort Lauderdale, branded residences have become a kind of market shorthand-compressing a long list of buyer priorities into a single, recognizable promise: consistent service standards, design credibility, and a lifestyle that feels curated rather than improvised.
Today, two names frame the conversation in Fort-lauderdale: Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale and the St. Regis Bahia Mar vision. They are not competing as equivalents. They are competing as philosophies.
One is already operating as a fully established property, with most opportunities arriving through Resale. The other is a Pre-construction proposition that asks buyers to underwrite a future resort ecosystem and the long arc of a major waterfront redevelopment.
This guide is written for buyers who want to move beyond brand aura and into decision-grade clarity.
Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale: the case for certainty
Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale sits at 525 N Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd, a 25-story oceanfront residential tower with 82 residences. It is described as completed in 2022, and that distinction reshapes the buying equation: what you see is what you get-and service is no longer theoretical.
Design is equally defined. The building is designed by architect Kobi Karp, with interiors by Tara Bernerd and Partners. For many ultra-premium buyers, clear authorship reduces the risk that “luxury” is simply a finish schedule. It signals an aesthetic point of view.
On the lifestyle side, Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale is built around an operating hotel-and-residences platform with an emphasis on spa and fitness programming. For buyers who treat wellness as a daily ritual rather than a check-the-box amenity, that programming reads as core value-not an accessory.
Market-wise, listings and snapshots commonly cite an average around $2,450 per square foot, varying by unit. The operative word is varying: the brand sets a baseline, but view corridors, floor height, and interior condition still determine the real number.
For readers also tracking other branded inventory in the corridor, it is worth comparing the service cadence and ownership feel against Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences Fort Lauderdale in context of the broader Fort Lauderdale beachfront evolution.
St. Regis Residences Bahia Mar: the case for vision and upside
St. Regis Residences Bahia Mar is marketed as a branded St. Regis residences and hotel project planned at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale. It is positioned as pre-construction, which means the buying posture is fundamentally different: you are buying into a narrative, a master plan, and a future operational ecosystem.
The published plans show three towers with 160 private residences plus 79 resort residences, for 239 total residences. That supply count matters. It signals a larger community and a more resort-integrated program than a smaller, primarily residential tower.
The defining lifestyle marker here is the Marina. Bahia Mar is presented as a core on-site feature of the redevelopment concept, and the amenity programming described for residents and resort users includes wellness and fitness, pools, and social spaces. For buyers whose identity is boating culture, the marina-centered emphasis reads as more than a perk-it becomes the organizing principle.
St. Regis also carries its own service signature: Butler Service is highlighted as a defining cultural element of the St. Regis experience. In practical terms, that can translate to a more ceremonious, tradition-forward hospitality style-the kind of polish that appeals to buyers who prefer formality and ritual over a purely modern “wellness club” sensibility.
The private residence component is marketed with private elevator foyer and entry. That detail speaks to one of the most powerful emotional variables in luxury living: the feeling of arrival.
If you are comparing Fort Lauderdale to other pre-construction plays across South Florida, it can be useful to benchmark how brand and waterfront planning are being packaged elsewhere. In a different submarket, St. Regis® Residences Brickell reflects a similarly brand-led approach, even though the lifestyle drivers are urban rather than marina-centric.
A buyer’s decision framework: service, setting, and timeline
The cleanest way to choose between these projects is to stop asking which is “better” and start asking which reduces the specific frictions in your life.
1) Timeline and certainty. Four Seasons offers the clearest path to immediate use: operations exist, amenities are functioning, and the building’s day-to-day rhythms can be observed. St. Regis Bahia Mar, by contrast, is a bet on future completion and the successful execution of a large resort environment.
2) Service culture. Four Seasons is often experienced as quietly efficient and wellness-forward in its day-to-day programming. St. Regis is known for its Butler tradition and a more formalized hospitality DNA. Neither is superior. They simply optimize for different definitions of luxury.
3) Waterfront identity. Oceanfront living has its own cadence: sunrise runs, direct beach access culture, and a horizon-first visual priority. A marina-led setting privileges boats, social arrivals, and the pleasure of being “on the water” even when you are not on the sand.
4) Scale and intimacy. Eighty-two residences can feel meaningfully curated in terms of neighbor profile and lobby tempo. A 239-residence total plan across multiple towers suggests a broader resort community, with more activity and potentially more varied use cases.
For buyers who want to compare the Fort Lauderdale coast to other oceanfront communities, Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale offers another lens on how beachfront luxury is being expressed locally, especially around the interplay of residence privacy and resort-style amenity expectations.
Pricing posture and value: how to think in dollars per square foot
The Four Seasons resale market is often framed in dollars per square foot, with snapshots commonly landing around $2,450 per square foot, varying by unit. This is most useful as a reference point for brand-premium pricing-not as a substitute for unit-level analysis.
A disciplined approach is to treat the branded baseline as one layer, then stack the tangible layers above it: view protection, floor height, layout efficiency, and interior condition. In a completed building, those variables are measurable.
With St. Regis Bahia Mar as a pre-construction offering, pricing discussions tend to be more about positioning and future value than comparable closed sales within the same building. The buyer’s edge comes from aligning purchase timing with a personal timeline and assessing whether the marina-centered resort concept matches how you actually live.
Design authorship and the feeling of “finished” luxury
Luxury buyers increasingly separate material luxury from authored luxury. Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale offers an unusually clear design chain: Kobi Karp on architecture and Tara Bernerd and Partners on interiors. That specificity can create cohesion-the sense that the building’s public spaces and private residences share a single, legible language.
In pre-construction environments, the challenge is not whether the finishes will be high-end. It is whether the finished experience will feel inevitable, as though there were never any other version possible.
If you are the kind of buyer who values design signatures across markets, it can be helpful to observe how “authored interiors” translate in other coastal, ultra-premium enclaves such as The Surf Club Four Seasons Surfside, even if the lifestyle and scale are distinct.
Food, social life, and what living “on property” really means
A subtle advantage of an operating, established property is that its social ecosystem already exists. Within the Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale environment, Evelyn’s is recognized in the Michelin Guide’s coverage-a detail that matters for buyers who treat on-property dining as an extension of their entertaining life.
For St. Regis Bahia Mar, the social promise is forward-looking: a multi-tower resort setting with pools, wellness, and social spaces designed to create a gravitational center. Buyers who love being early to a neighborhood’s next chapter may see that as part of the appeal.
Who each address tends to suit
Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale tends to suit buyers who prioritize certainty, established operations, and a refined oceanfront routine. If you want to understand the lobby energy, the service tempo, and how the amenities function at peak season, you can.
St. Regis Residences Bahia Mar tends to suit buyers who want a marina-oriented identity and who are comfortable purchasing pre-construction in exchange for potential long-term upside and a broader resort ecosystem.
Both can serve as primary residences or refined second homes. The differentiator is whether you want your luxury to feel already composed-or still unfolding.
FAQs
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Is Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale completed? It is described as completed in 2022, and availability is typically through resale listings rather than developer sales.
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Where is Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale located? It is at 525 N Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd on the oceanfront.
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How many residences are in Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale? The tower has 82 residences.
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Who designed Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale? Architecture is by Kobi Karp, with interiors by Tara Bernerd and Partners.
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What is a typical price-per-square-foot reference for Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale? Market snapshots commonly cite around $2,450 per square foot, varying by unit and condition.
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Is St. Regis Residences Bahia Mar pre-construction? Yes, it is positioned and marketed as a pre-construction branded residences and hotel project.
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How many total residences are planned at St. Regis Bahia Mar? Plans show 160 private residences plus 79 resort residences, for 239 total residences.
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What is the lifestyle centerpiece at St. Regis Bahia Mar? The concept is built around Bahia Mar and its marina as a core on-site feature.
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Do St. Regis Bahia Mar private residences include private elevator entry? The private residences are marketed with private elevator foyer and entry.
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How do the service styles differ between Four Seasons and St. Regis? Four Seasons emphasizes a wellness-forward resort rhythm, while St. Regis is defined by its Butler Service tradition.
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