Raffles is building 35 waterfront homes starting at $4.5 million in Miami
Raffles is building 35 luxury waterfront homes in Miami starting at $4.5 million.
The short version
- The famous hotel brand is teaming up with developers Mast Capital and BH Group.
- The new building will sit in the Coconut Grove neighborhood with no hotel attached.
New York and San Francisco used to be the main hotspots for the ultrawealthy, but Florida has absorbed a net $137 billion in income from other states between 2019 and 2023, according to IRS data. Now, Raffles, the luxury hotel brand founded in Singapore in 1887 and now owned by Accor, is betting that the massive wave of wealth will keep coming.
According to Fortune, Raffles is launching its first standalone residential building with just 35 waterfront homes starting at $4.5 million in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood. Citadel founder Ken Griffin paid $106.9 million for an estate in Coconut Grove in 2022, and Google cofounder Larry Page bought two estates there for about $173.4 million combined.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos spent $237 million on three estates on Indian Creek, and Jewish billionaire Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg closed on a $170 million estate nearby. Coconut Grove sits on Biscayne Bay just south of downtown, offering a quiet waterfront village feel that has quickly turned into a billionaire enclave.
Omer Acar, CEO of Raffles and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, told Fortune it is a very upcoming market. The new building at 2545 South Bayshore Drive will feature 2- to 4.5-bedroom homes and penthouses, with no hotel and no overnight guests checked in.
Camilo Miguel Jr., founder and CEO of Mast Capital, told Fortune that the building will feature a restaurant, a spa, and a rooftop pool deck. Isaac Toledano, founder of BH Group, explained that the developers acquired an older condominium building to secure the scarce land.
About 40 people have already expressed interest in the 35 units, and construction is planned to start next year.
