For the buyer who can afford either and is choosing a way of living: an island reached by ferry, or a tower where the restaurant, the spa and the city are downstairs.
This page explains. Whether the building suits you is a separate conversation. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current position on any building we cover.
Fisher Island is a private enclave by geography: no bridge, arrival by ferry or boat, and a club that every owner joins. Six Fisher Island is the last building on it, about 50 waterfront homes of three to eight bedrooms, from about 3,900 to over 15,000 square feet, with no published entry price. Downtown Miami is the opposite proposition: Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami puts about 360 homes in a 100 story tower with Hilton on the door, From $3,300,000, and Delano Residences puts about 421 finished homes over a hotel, From $760,000. The enclave buys separation and a club budget; the city buys the lift down to dinner and a lobby you share. Neither is quieter on paper than the other once the budget is read.
The same five questions, from the developers' published material:
Six Fisher Island. Price point: no published entry price on our file. Delivery: no date on file. Unit mix: about 50 waterfront homes, three to eight bedrooms, about 3,900 to over 15,000 square feet. Position: about 650 feet of shoreline in about 6.5 acres of gardens on Fisher Island; views to Miami Beach, Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic and the skyline; arrival by ferry, private boat, house car and tender, or the private marina. Operator: Related Group with BH Group and Globe Invest; three lobbies with full-time concierges, private elevator entry, a residential butler and an on-site general manager.
Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami. Price point: From $3,300,000. Delivery: no date on file. Unit mix: about 360 branded residences across 100 stories, furnished junior suites and one to four bedroom homes, with hotel guestrooms in the tower. Position: Downtown Miami, water on three sides, views of downtown, Miami Beach and the Atlantic. Operator: Hilton Worldwide under licence; Property Markets Group as lead developer.
Delano Residences & Hotel Miami. Price point: From $760,000. Delivery: no date on file. Unit mix: about 421 fully finished residences over about 90 stories, with the released Delano Collection on floors 20 to 47 in studio to two bedroom lines. Position: Fourth and Biscayne, Downtown Miami, a public observation deck at about 850 feet. Operator: Delano under licence, with Ennismore and Accor; Property Markets Group as developer.
Distance, and the rules that come with it. There is no bridge to Fisher Island; the developer publishes arrival by ferry, private boat, house car and tender, or the marina, which means every guest, every delivery and every contractor arrives on a schedule the island controls. The amenities at Six Fisher Island are private to residents: over about 55,000 square feet, with bayfront and sunset pools, a padel court, a residents-only oceanfront restaurant, the Sanctuary Spa and a gallery lounge. On top of that sits the island itself.
The island comes with a club. The developer publishes a lifetime Fisher Island Club membership on closing, subject to Club approval; the developer pays the initiation fee only, and annual dues and charges are the owner's cost, with eligibility set by the Club. That is the enclave's price in plain terms: a membership you do not choose, with dues the association does not control. Read club membership at Six Fisher Island and the island question in Miami.
Time, and company. A Downtown tower puts the restaurant, the spa, the pool deck and the hotel's staff below the home, and the city outside the door. Waldorf publishes Peacock Alley, a signature restaurant, an all day brasserie, a spa, a fitness centre with private studios and a kids club. Delano publishes two resort pools, The Source spa with steam, sauna and cold plunge, a sky restaurant and a Members' Club, with beach club access at Delano Miami Beach under the Accor benefits program, subject to the annual benefits fee.
The company is the trade. A hotel in the tower means guests in the building, and a public observation deck at Delano means the public at about 850 feet. Ask each developer which lifts, pools and entrances are residents-only; Waldorf publishes a private residential pool deck and an owners' lounge. Read which new condos in Downtown Miami and the Design District are most private for the longer answer, and what the branded residence premium buys for what the name costs.
An enclave of about 50 homes shares a staff list of concierges, a butler and a general manager across 50 owners, plus the club's dues on top. A tower of about 360 or 421 homes shares its staff across many more owners, but carries a brand fee and the hotel's shared facilities in the budget. Neither is cheaper by nature; the budget is the document that says which is cheaper in fact. Ask each developer for the estimated operating budget and, at Six Fisher Island, for the Club's current dues schedule; put them side by side. Our page on what it costs to own a condo in Miami each year lists the lines, and Miami HOA fees explains what drives them.
One more line for a buyer from New York, Massachusetts or California: the developer publishes that Six Fisher Island is registered in those states in addition to Florida, which matters to how the offering may be presented to a buyer there. Ask counsel what the registration means for you.
Six Fisher Island suits the buyer who wants a house-sized home on the water, an island with its own rules and a club that is part of the address. You give up the city at the door, a published price, and control over the club's dues. See the Six Fisher Island dossier and the Fisher Island zone page.
Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami suits the buyer who wants the tallest address on the coast and a hotel's service at home, with Downtown and Brickell on foot. You give up separation; a hotel shares the tower. See the Waldorf Astoria dossier.
Delano Residences suits the buyer who wants a finished home at the lowest entry on this page, with a sky pool and a beach club across the bay. You give up the largest homes, which are in later releases, and the lobby is a hotel's. See the Delano dossier.
The Downtown Miami zone page maps the city side. For the part-time version of the island question, read living part-time on Fisher Island or in South Beach; for the same choice between a tower and a quieter place on the mainland, Brickell or Coconut Grove: a city tower or a quieter enclave. The desk reads the Club's dues schedule and the towers' budgets with you before the ferry.
Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current plans, pricing and availability as the developer releases them, discussed one to one.
A private report on the Miami market, sent when there is something worth knowing. No noise, no listings, no pressure.
Received. A note from the desk is on its way. If it has not arrived within a few minutes, please check your spam folder and mark it as not spam, so we can reach you.
We hold no listings and we are not the developer. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will tell you what applies to your situation, what does not, and where we would not proceed. Where a question is legal, tax or structuring, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.
Metrik Real Estate is a Miami real estate company built around one idea: the buyer gets their own team. Miami Dossier is its private buyer advisory for new construction.
A person replies within 24 hours, usually much sooner. On weekends, back on Monday morning.
