Mandarin Oriental Residences Brickell: Asian-Inspired Serenity in Miami’s Financial District
Quick Summary
- Brickell Key’s next chapter centers on a two-tower Mandarin Oriental plan
- South Tower: 66 stories, 228 residences, interiors by Tristan Auer
- Redevelopment follows the current hotel’s planned May 31, 2025 closure
- A 2030 opening targets full-service living with resort-scale amenities
The return of Brickell Key as a true resort enclave
Brickell has become shorthand for velocity: finance, dining, new towers, and a daily rhythm that rewards proximity. Brickell Key, by contrast, has always offered a quieter proposition. As a private island neighborhood just off the mainland, it delivers an edited version of Miami’s urban core - close enough to tap Brickell and Downtown, removed enough to read as a retreat.
That distinction is now being redefined by a single, headline redevelopment: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami. Planned as a two-tower project on Brickell Key and developed by Swire Properties, it is positioned to replace the existing Mandarin Oriental, Miami hotel property. The current hotel is set to close on May 31, 2025 in preparation for redevelopment, with the new hotel and residences planned to open in 2030.
For buyers who treat location as a lifestyle asset, this timeline is material. Pre-construction at this level isn’t only about floor plans and finishes; it’s about tracking how an island’s identity shifts when its signature hospitality address enters a multi-year redevelopment - then returns at a newly calibrated scale.
What is planned: two towers, two modes of living
At a high level, the development is conceived as a paired experience. One tower is predominantly residential; the other integrates a boutique hotel component with residences designed to connect to hotel operations.
The South Tower is designed as a 66-story residential tower by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF). Its program is 228 private residences, generally in 2- to 5-bedroom configurations. Marketing materials position layouts from roughly 2,333 square feet up to about 5,800 square feet, plus duplex penthouses around or over 7,800 square feet.
The North Tower includes a boutique Mandarin Oriental hotel planned with 121 guestrooms and suites, and also includes private residences and “resort residences” associated with hotel operations. For buyers, this split can be decisive: some households want the purity of a private-residence tower, while others prefer a home that more directly plugs into the cadence and services of a hotel.
The key takeaway: this is not a single-building, single-experience play. It’s a campus-like approach intended to bring resort logic onto Brickell Key.
Design and interiors: a contemporary, hospitality-led sensibility
In ultra-luxury Miami, design is rarely about ornament. It’s about restraint, proportion, and how a home performs from morning through evening.
In the South Tower, interiors are by Tristan Auer, described in project marketing as his first North American residential project for the brand. That positioning is telling: branded residences increasingly compete on interior authorship, not just views. When the design lead is treated as a headline, the intent is to move the conversation beyond “new construction” and into “new standard.”
The South Tower residences are marketed with 11-foot ceilings and expansive terraces designed to support indoor-outdoor living. In practice, it speaks to Miami’s most enduring luxury preference: a living room that opens to the horizon without becoming a seasonal compromise.
Kitchens are marketed with Molteni and C cabinetry and Gaggenau appliances, a pairing that signals European modernity and performance. For end users, these details aren’t just premium labels; they often translate to a consistent approach to tolerances, ergonomics, and the quiet daily satisfaction of spaces that feel engineered, not decorated.
Landscape and amenities: “island within an island” living
Luxury in South Florida is increasingly defined by what sits between the building and the bay. Not just a pool deck, but a layered outdoor environment with shade, plant diversity, and purposeful circulation.
Landscape architecture is by SHMA Designs, with an “island within an island” concept. The plan includes more than 100 native and climate-resilient plant species, signaling an approach that is both aesthetic and pragmatic in a coastal environment.
A landscaped podium and amenity level connects the two towers, described as a resort-style outdoor and wellness environment. For buyers, the podium isn’t a footnote. In a two-tower plan, it becomes the social spine - where you meet neighbors, host family, and reclaim the ease of a resort without leaving the property.
This is also where branded living earns its premium. In the strongest executions, amenities aren’t add-on checkboxes; they’re programmed experiences, managed with hotel-level attention to service flow, maintenance, and privacy.
Brand value in Brickell: why Mandarin Oriental reads differently
Branded residences only work when the brand is more than signage. Mandarin Oriental’s history traces back to The Mandarin in Hong Kong opening in 1963, and its identity has long centered on calm precision in hospitality. For many buyers, that sensibility is the point: service that feels discreet, not performative.
The brand also maintains a global sustainability framework, which matters for buyers who are increasingly attentive to how luxury buildings are operated and maintained over time. While every project’s specifics vary, brand-level standards often shape the resident experience in subtle ways: how common areas are cared for, how staff is trained, and how the building ages.
In Brickell, where the skyline changes quickly, buyers tend to pay premiums for what is harder to replicate: an enduring service culture and a property that feels composed, even during peak season.
Neighborhood context: Brickell convenience, Brickell Key quiet
Brickell’s appeal is straightforward: it is a core part of the Downtown Miami area with dining, shopping, and access to cultural venues, with destinations like Brickell City Centre nearby. That ecosystem supports a modern pattern of living where errands, dining, and meetings can happen without a car.
Brickell Key benefits from that proximity without absorbing the same intensity. For end users, it can feel like holding a second address within the same address - an island “return-home” moment at the end of a day that still unfolded in the city.
This is the same emotional logic that draws some buyers to Miami Beach when they want ocean air and walkable glamour, or to quieter oceanfront buildings that prioritize privacy over nightlife. The difference is that Brickell Key keeps you tethered to the mainland’s daily conveniences.
For perspective, buyers comparing waterfront lifestyles often cross-shop Miami Beach’s highest-caliber offerings, such as The Ritz-Carlton Residences® Miami Beach for a marina-forward, service-led experience, or Setai Residences Miami Beach for a residence that leans into a composed, hospitality-driven atmosphere.
How to evaluate a pre-construction purchase at this tier
Pre-construction at the ultra-premium level is less about speculation and more about alignment. Buyers should pressure-test three things.
First, clarity of program. Here, the two-tower plan helps: the South Tower is framed as private residences, while the North Tower integrates a boutique hotel with additional residence types. Decide which living model matches your household, your privacy expectations, and your tolerance for hotel-adjacent energy.
Second, the livability of scale. The South Tower’s 228 residences can read as intimate or substantial depending on the amenity footprint and service staffing. Focus on how vertical circulation, arrival sequence, and resident-only zones are designed to preserve quiet.
Third, the outdoor environment. The “island within an island” landscape concept and the disclosed use of climate-resilient native species suggest intentionality. In South Florida, a great podium is a daily luxury - the difference between a building that is beautiful in renderings and one that feels restorative in real life.
Buyers who want an oceanfront counterpoint to Brickell Key’s bay-and-skyline setting may also look at Shore Club Private Collections Miami Beach for a Miami Beach expression of branded, amenity-rich living, or 57 Ocean Miami Beach for a more boutique-feeling oceanfront stance.
A discreet market signal: absorption at the very top
Demand for genuinely top-tier product is often best measured by absorption, not headlines. Here, South Tower sales have been described publicly as exceeding $1 billion and as being about 50% sold at the time of an update. Sales velocity can’t guarantee long-term outcomes, but it does suggest the market is responding to a specific mix of location, brand, and the rarity of a true resort campus on Brickell Key.
For luxury buyers, the deeper implication is that Brickell Key is not being treated as a peripheral address. It is being repositioned as a primary one, with a hospitality anchor that can compete with the best coastal experiences while remaining minutes from Brickell’s center of gravity.
The bottom line for South Florida buyers
If you are considering The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami as a primary home, the case is most compelling when your priority is calm proximity: the ability to live close to Brickell’s dining and shopping ecosystem while returning to an island environment designed to feel resort-like.
If you are considering it as a second home, the appeal shifts to operational ease. A branded setting can reduce friction - from arrival to daily service needs - and the two-tower concept offers multiple ways to participate in that hospitality layer.
Either way, the most sophisticated approach is comparative. Hold Brickell Key’s bayfront intimacy up against Miami Beach’s oceanfront energy, and choose the version of Miami you want to live in, not just the one you want to visit.
FAQs
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When is The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami planned to open? The new hotel and residences are planned to open in 2030.
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When is the existing Mandarin Oriental, Miami expected to close for redevelopment? The current hotel is set to close on May 31, 2025 in preparation for redevelopment.
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Who is developing the project? It is a two-tower luxury development on Brickell Key developed by Swire Properties.
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Who designed the South Tower? The 66-story South Tower is designed by the architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF).
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How many residences are planned in the South Tower? The South Tower program is 228 private residences, generally with 2- to 5-bedroom layouts.
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What residence sizes are being marketed for the South Tower? Residences are marketed from roughly 2,333 to about 5,800 square feet, plus duplex penthouses around or over 7,800 square feet.
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What interior details are being marketed for the South Tower? Marketing highlights 11-foot ceilings, expansive terraces, and kitchens with Molteni and C cabinetry and Gaggenau appliances.
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What is the landscape concept for the project? The landscape is described as an “island within an island” and includes more than 100 native and climate-resilient plant species.
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What is planned for the North Tower hotel component? The North Tower includes a boutique Mandarin Oriental hotel planned with 121 guestrooms and suites.
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Is Brickell Key close to Brickell’s dining and shopping? Yes, Brickell Key sits immediately adjacent to Brickell and Downtown Miami, keeping major destinations nearby.
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