First Porsche, now Mercedes. Miami lands another luxury condo tower with a car brand
Mercedes-Benz wants to make its mark on Miami’s skyline with its first condominium in the Americas, joining other luxury car brands that have put their names on South Florida high-rises.
The company announced this week that it is partnering with real estate firm JDS Development on a 67-story high-rise tower in Brickell, according to JDS CEO Michael Stern.
Condos with car names are trending in Miami-Dade County, with Sunny Isles Beach and downtown Miami already home to the Porsche Design Tower Miami, Aston Martin Residences, and Bentley Residences Miami, which broke ground this week.
Mercedes-Benz Places – Miami will deliver 791 residences, nearly 200 hotel rooms and about 250,000 square feet of office space in a single tower at 191 SW 12th St., two blocks from Mary Brickell Village, an outdoor shopping and restaurant complex.
Pre-construction sales launched this week for the condos, priced from $550,000 for a studio to $4 million for a three-bedroom condo. Penthouses have yet to be listed.
The Miami tower is Mercedes-Benz’s second residential project, following another in Dubai.
“Mercedes is one of the most iconic brands in the world,” Stern said.
Mercedes will bring a “whole suite of lifestyle” to the building, Stern said, including color schemes and electric car charging stations.
One Southside Park
JDS launched its plans to build a high-rise four years ago, but Mercedes-Benz just joined the effort. The real estate firm acquired the acre-sized site for $23 million in 2020 and announced plans to build a high-rise with up to 1,000 residences. Miami-based Starwood Capital Group’s SH Hotels & Resorts will manage the hotel.
After initially raising concerns from residents fearing overdevelopment in the area, JDS committed to give back to the community by replacing the city’s adjacent fire station and renovating the neighboring Southside Park with the help of the James Corner Field Operations team. James Corner Field Operations is the firm behind New York’s Highline and Miami’s Underline urban park space. The entire project is known as the One Southside Park development, including the high-rise, fire station and park.
“We started off as skeptics and publicly questioned the project, but after many community meetings with the developer we were able to resolve some of the concerns we had,” said Abigail Apé, managing director of the Brickell Homeowners Association, an organization advocating on behalf of 40 condo associations. “Some developers contribute to the neighborhood. JDS is one of them. They contribute to the neighborhood. As long as the development contributes to the community and takes input, it’s something the community desires.”
Already under construction, the high-rise will go vertical sometime this year and construction will wrap on the condo tower, fire station and park by 2028, Stern said.
“Our branded real-estate venture in Miami embodies the strategy behind Mercedes-Benz Places,” Eva Wiese, head of Mercedes-Benz Customer Solutions GmbH, said in a statement. “Ultimately, we want to create places to come home to, in a location worth living in.”
Other car brands on Miami condos
Miami-Dade County already has a handful of other luxury car-branded high-rises. It’s a sweet deal for both the development firm and car manufacturer, said real estate condo expert Peter Zalewski, the founder of the real estate consultancy firm Condo Vultures.
“For the luxury car brand, it’s a way to pick up additional revenue. If they’re publicly traded, this is a great way to add to their balance sheet,” Zalewski said. Mercedes-Benz is publicly traded, listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges.
“It’s more about institutional branding and reaching different crowds you can’t reach elsewhere, unless you’re in Seattle, L.A. or New York in terms of international play and influence,” he said.
Unlike the other condominiums built on the beachfront or along Biscayne Bay, the Mercedes-Benz tower will rise in the concrete jungle along Brickell’s western edge.
“The most prominent areas would be to the east of the [Brickell] Metrorail station. This is to the west. You have the Ace hardware, Wendy’s, gas station,” Zalewski said. “I’m not a car guy, but when I see that area I think it’s more Volkswagen or Ford. This is more for the masses.”
The project comes at a time when demand remains strong for high-rise living in the Magic City, just slightly cooler than the buying frenzy the city endured during the pandemic. Today, Miami has 7.4 months of condo supply — what real estate experts would consider a balanced market — and a median sales price of $405,700, according to data from the Miami Association of Realtors.
“Miami has fared better because it is more pro business. It is not as regulated. It is tax blessed,” Stern said. “We have an incredible quality of life we get to enjoy here in South Florida. It is second to none in the U.S.”