Notes from the desk · Comparisons

Miami buildings compared, with a verdict on each

Head to head comparisons, the zone questions that come before them, and the diligence questions underneath. Every page says who each option suits and when the answer is neither.

Compiled by the desk at Miami Dossier, which holds developer material on the buildings covered and represents none of them. Neighbourhoods weighed building by building.

The Index

Comparisons the desk at Miami Dossier is actually asked to make, rather than every pair that could be generated. Each carries a verdict, including the cases where the honest answer is neither of them. Where a building is not in coverage it still appears here as comparison and context, because a page that pretended otherwise would be less useful.

Before the building: the zone and the water

Oceanfront or bayfront in Miami: what you are actually choosing

Almost every Miami search resolves to this question first, and most buyers answer it from a photograph. The desk at Miami Dossier sets out what the two positions actually differ on.

The island question: Fisher Island, Brickell Key, Bal Harbour and Key Biscayne

Four ways to buy separateness in Miami, and they cost wildly different amounts of daily friction. The desk at Miami Dossier ranks them by what they actually keep out.

Which Miami neighbourhood suits a family relocating with children

Families arriving from New York, London, Bogotá or Mexico City almost always end up in the same three or four places, and rarely the ones they searched for first. The desk at Miami Dossier explains why.
Head to head

St Regis Brickell or Baccarat Brickell

Two large waterfront Brickell programmes with very different structures behind them. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the difference and says which buyer each one is for.

888 Brickell or 619 Brickell by Nobu

A design house on a slender inland tower against Foster + Partners on the water. The desk at Miami Dossier says what each one is actually selling.

Mandarin Oriental on Brickell Key or St Regis Brickell

Two hospitality operators, one bridge apart, and the bridge is the entire comparison. The desk at Miami Dossier reads what crossing it actually changes.

Anantara Residences Miami or EDITION Edgewater

Two bayfront Edgewater buildings a short walk apart, one with a resort inside it and one without. The desk at Miami Dossier says what that single difference actually buys.

Villa Miami or Anantara Residences Miami

The smallest building in Edgewater against the most serviced one. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the trade between privacy and depth.

Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami or Casa Bella

The landmark on the boulevard against the building inside Worldcenter. The desk at Miami Dossier explains why these two are not really competing.

Waldorf Astoria Miami or St Regis Brickell

Two hospitality names a mile apart in two neighbourhoods at different stages. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the zone question first, because it decides this one.

Waldorf Astoria Miami or Delano Residences Miami

Two supertalls, one developer, one conceptual artist, a few blocks apart. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the only things that actually differ: the register and the unit mix.

Aman Miami Beach or The Perigon

The two most seriously made buildings on Mid-Beach, and they reward opposite instincts. The desk at Miami Dossier says which is which.

The Shore Club Private Collection or Ritz-Carlton South Beach

Both are South Beach and only one is on the ocean. The desk at Miami Dossier explains why that is the entire comparison.

Rivage Bal Harbour or St Regis Sunny Isles

Scarcity in a built-out village against service and choice on the densest oceanfront in Florida. The desk at Miami Dossier reads both sides honestly.

Bentley Residences or St Regis Sunny Isles

A car lift into your residence against a hospitality operating agreement. The desk at Miami Dossier asks the maintenance question that the renderings do not.

Rivage Bal Harbour or Aman Miami Beach

Two of the top oceanfront positions on the coast, two miles and one temperament apart. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the difference.

Six Fisher Island or Rivage Bal Harbour

Two ways to buy privacy on the water, and one of them involves a boat every single day. The desk at Miami Dossier weighs the friction honestly.

Four Seasons Coconut Grove or Ziggurat

An operator's service record against an architectural argument, in a neighbourhood with only two buildings in tier. The desk at Miami Dossier states the status question plainly.

Kempinski Design District or Fouquet's

Two European hospitality names, both early to residential in a district built for retail. The desk at Miami Dossier reads what each is really offering and states the status plainly.

Ritz-Carlton North Bay Village or Pagani Residences

An operator's record against an engineering name, on a bay island most buyers have not considered. The desk at Miami Dossier reads both, and the causeway.

Ritz-Carlton North Bay Village or Ritz-Carlton South Beach

Same operator, two islands, two entirely different lives. The desk at Miami Dossier explains what the brand does and does not tell you.

St Regis Brickell or St Regis Sunny Isles

One operator, one city, two completely different propositions. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the choice as what it is: bay and city against ocean and beach.

1428 Brickell or Cipriani Residences Miami

Two Brickell buildings that both promise a quieter life, by different means. The desk at Miami Dossier says which one delivers it.

Four Seasons Coconut Grove or Ponce Park Coral Gables

The two neighbourhoods relocating families actually choose, and one building in each. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the difference between them.
The questions underneath the building

Reading a Miami deposit schedule before you sign

Deposit structure is the part of a preconstruction purchase that most affects your position and the part written about least. The desk at Miami Dossier sets out what to read and what to ask.

How to read a Miami developer's record

On a multi-year build the developer matters more than the brand on the door. The desk at Miami Dossier sets out what to look at and what the answers mean.

Floor plan analysis: comparing lines across Miami buildings

Two residences with the same square footage can be completely different homes. The desk at Miami Dossier sets out how to read a line rather than a number.

Buying in Miami when you will not live there full time

A building that is excellent to live in can be an expensive place to keep a residence you visit six weeks a year. The desk at Miami Dossier reads the difference.

What the brand is actually doing in a Miami branded residence

Hospitality operator, design house, or a name on a facade are three different arrangements sold in the same language. The desk at Miami Dossier separates them.
Common Questions

What buyers ask the desk at Miami Dossier

How are these comparisons chosen?
By what buyers actually bring to the desk at Miami Dossier. There is no attempt to generate every possible pair of buildings. A comparison earns a page when it is a question people are genuinely asking.
Do these pages recommend a building?
They give a verdict on who each option suits and who it does not, and they say when the honest answer is neither. They do not tell a reader to buy anything, and the desk at Miami Dossier publishes no projections.
Are prices published on these pages?
No. Pricing, price per foot by stack, deposit rhythm and current release detail are held by the desk at Miami Dossier and shared in conversation rather than published.
What if the building I am considering is not covered?
Buildings outside the coverage appear inside these pages as comparison and context. If yours is not here at all, ask the desk at Miami Dossier. We would rather tell you what we know and what we do not than pretend the list is the market.
If you are moving to Miami

The questions around the building

Most of the people who bring this comparison to the desk at Miami Dossier are not only choosing between buildings. They are moving to Miami from New York, California, London, Bogotá, Mexico City or São Paulo, or adding a Miami position to a portfolio held elsewhere, and the building question sits inside a larger one: how to buy new construction here, how to hold it, and what changes when you do.

The desk keeps short notes on the parts that come up every week: how buying preconstruction in Miami actually works, what a normal deposit schedule looks like, whether you need to be in Miami to buy, whether a foreign buyer can get a mortgage, what taxes a foreign buyer pays on a Miami condo, what happens if a developer delivers late, and the Florida state income tax question. For buyers arriving from a specific market there are notes for Bogotá, Mexico City and London.

Read the ones that apply, then bring the rest to the desk at Miami Dossier. It usually takes one conversation to see which of these fits, or whether neither does.

A Note on Advice

This page is general information for people considering Miami, written by a real estate desk, not by a law or accounting firm. Nothing here is legal, tax, immigration or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Rules change, treaties differ by country, and the right answer for one family is the wrong answer for another.

Figures and building details are compiled from developer documents held by the desk at Miami Dossier and from public filings. They are approximate, subject to change, and anything material should be confirmed against the current developer release before you rely on it. Where the desk at Miami Dossier does not know something, the page says so.

Speak with your own attorney and CPA before you commit to anything. If you do not have one who works with international buyers in Florida, the desk is glad to recommend an attorney, a CPA or an adviser suited to your situation, and to sit in the first conversation so that nothing is lost in translation.

The Desk

The answer changes with the person asking.

Structure, financing, currency, timing, the right building and the right line: the desk works through these questions with international buyers every week. What this page cannot do is know your position. Tell us the shape of it and we will say plainly which of these fits, which does not, and what we would want to see before anyone commits.

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