In a historic, record-breaking mega-deal, Florida East Coast Realty, led by Miami development patriarch Tibor Hollo, sold a 2.5 acre prime waterfront development site in Brickell’s Financial District for a whopping $363 million, which is about $145 million per acre or $3,340 per square foot. Mr. Hollo’s company made an unprecedented profit on this deal, having paid a mere $15.5 million for property back in 2000.

TWJ 1201 LLC, the entity belonging to Mr. Hollo’s son, Jerome Hollo, sold the lot at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive to a foreign entity based in the state of Delaware, who launched a new company by the name of 1201 Brickell Bay LLC, and managed by Randall Davis. While Davis may be the same renowned Houston-based developer who heads the Randall Davis Company, this recently created LLC is registered to an address in Chicago. No parties have thus far responded to media requests.

But the pressing question of the day remains: What’s going to happen to this highly-prized waterfront property at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive and the planned supertall Towers by Foster + Partners? Set between the 48-story Jade Brickell and the 38-story The Mark on overlooking Biscayne Bay, this vacant lot has been languishing as a parking lot for years. 

When Florida East Coast Realty purchased the site in 2000, Tibor Hollo and his family announced their plans to build a 1,049-foot “supertall” twin tower complex simply called “The Towers” and designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster of Foster + Partners. The project was proposed as a mixed-use residential development housing 660 luxury condo units with lavish resort-style amenities on the rooftop, and a convenient underground garage.

What Will Become of The Towers at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive?

After its sale in 2000, the site at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive was earmarked for development into a mega multi-use development to be called Villa Magna in 2006. Mr. Hollo set the project aside after the market crash in 2008 - 2009, and focused on another “supertall,” the 85-story, 868-foot Panorama Tower, designed by Kobi Karp, and completed in 2018. This luxury rental tower currently ranks as the tallest building in the state of Florida and the tallest residential tower south of New York City. 

Around 2016, Mr. Hollo revealed his new vision for what would once again be the tallest buildings in Florida for his waterfront lot at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive – the two 1,049-foot towers. Inspired in the famed Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Mr. Hollo’s enthusiasm for the project was effervescent at the time, and its potential to be a blockbuster of a project was practically guaranteed. This lot is one of the last waterfront sites available for development in Brickell’s Financial District, and the only one that is fully prepared to break ground and start construction. 

But the impressive and historic price gain on this jewel of a waterfront lot at a time when finance and tech businesses and wealthy residents are flooding the South Florida market in search of prime real estate is a sign of the strength of this market and Miami’s maturity.

With Miami condos listing for unprecedented prices high above the $1 million mark in the first quarter of 2022, there’s no better time to launch pre-construction sales of a new luxury condo project in the highly-coveted Financial District overlooking Biscayne Bay.

And other luxury supertall projects, including the Waldorf Astoria Residences in Downtown Miami, and the recently announced Major Residences Brickell, have already come to market at the maximum 1,049 feet height, meaning that The Towers would be sharing the “Tallest Tower” title. Two other projects, including another project from Mr. Hollow, are planned at that height. 

So what will become of The Towers by Foster + Partners? We certainly hope it will be developed. It is a project that would create an iconic project on Miami’s skyline. We will be watching this space and be sure to keep you updated on what the next plans are for this incredible waterfront site. Stay tuned!