I've been selling luxury real estate in Miami for 21 years. I've closed over $2 billion in transactions. I've placed clients in Mandarin Oriental, St. Regis, Dolce & Gabbana, E11EVEN, Perigon—you name it. I've seen projects come and go, watched the Brickell skyline transform from a handful of towers to what it is today.
I've bought into projects I'm selling before—E11EVEN Hotel and Residences and E11EVEN Beyond. When I believe in something, I put my money in. But Nobu is different. The price points are higher. The stakes are bigger. And my conviction is stronger than it's ever been.
I'm purchasing a unit at Nobu Residences, 619 Brickell Avenue. Here's why.
Twenty Years of Nobu
My relationship with Nobu goes back decades. The first time I walked into Matsuhisa in Vail, I understood what hospitality could be. This wasn't just good food—though the black cod miso changed my understanding of what fish could taste like. It was the attention to detail. The way the staff anticipated what you needed before you knew you needed it. The calm. The precision.
I've since eaten at Nobu Coronado in San Diego, Nobu in New York, Nobu in Las Vegas. Every single time, regardless of location, the experience is consistent. Not identical—each location has its own character—but consistently excellent. That's harder to achieve than people realize. Most restaurant groups expand and quality suffers. Nobu expanded and somehow got better.
When I heard they were bringing that level of hospitality into residential living—into a building where I could actually live it every day—I paid attention.
The Nobu philosophy comes from Nobu Matsuhisa's concept of Kokoro—heart, mind, and spirit working in harmony. That sounds like marketing language until you experience it. It's in the way they plate the food. It's in the lighting. It's in how the server knows your name by your second visit. Now imagine that philosophy applied to your home.
Why Brickell, Why Now
I've lived in Brickell for years. I know this neighborhood intimately—the good and the bad. I've watched it evolve from a business district that shut down at 6pm to the walkable, vibrant urban center it is today. Brickell City Centre changed the game. The restaurant scene exploded. Citadel moved their headquarters here. Microsoft. Blackstone. The financial center of the South moved to my backyard.
But here's what most people don't realize: 619 Brickell Avenue is the last premier waterfront site in the neighborhood. There's no more waterfront land. This is it. When people ask me about Brickell real estate five, ten years from now, they'll look back at this site the way we look back at the original Fisher Island lots or the first towers on Sunny Isles.
The Location Advantage
619 Brickell sits at 6th and Brickell Avenue, directly on Biscayne Bay. You're two minutes from Brickell City Centre, five minutes from the Metromover, fifteen minutes from Miami Beach, twenty minutes from MIA. The tower is angled Southeast specifically to maximize natural light and protect your water views long-term. Foster + Partners doesn't leave details like that to chance.
The Team Behind 619
I've seen enough projects to know that the development team matters more than the renderings. Renderings can be beautiful. Execution is what counts.
Foster + Partners won the Pritzker Prize—the Nobel Prize of architecture. Norman Foster designed Apple Park in Cupertino, the Gherkin in London, Hearst Tower in New York, the Millau Viaduct in France. These aren't buildings; they're landmarks. When someone asks what building you live in and you say "the Foster tower in Brickell," they'll know exactly what that means.
The developer, And Partners Group, is backed by The Baupost Group—one of the largest hedge funds in the world with over $25 billion under management. This isn't a developer stretching for financing or hoping the market holds up. This is institutional capital with patience and deep pockets. That matters when you're putting down deposits years before completion.
And then there's Nobu Hospitality. By 2027, they'll have 38 hotels and 56 restaurants globally. They've figured out how to scale excellence. Buying here gets you immediate Nobu Platinum status worldwide—priority reservations, upgrades, VIP treatment from Malibu to Marbella. That's not a gimmick. That's real value for people who travel.
The Wellness Factor
Here's where 619 Brickell separates itself from everything else in Miami, and frankly, from most buildings anywhere in the world.
I've become increasingly focused on longevity. Not in a faddish way—in a serious, science-based way. I've done the hyperbaric chambers. I've done the cryotherapy. I've done the IV drips. I've driven across town, made appointments, dealt with scheduling. It works, but it's a hassle.
619 Brickell is building a 90,000 square foot Wellness and Longevity Center. Not a gym with some yoga classes. A full medical-grade facility with hyperbaric oxygen chambers, cryotherapy, IV therapy, peptide therapy, red light therapy, neuro healing meditation pods, a Tesla chair, Himalayan salt room. They're bringing in a dedicated Wellness Concierge who will create customized longevity protocols based on your blood work and body scans.
This is the stuff people fly to Switzerland for—and it's in my building. I can take the elevator.
Every unit also has medical-grade HEPA air purification, ozone-enhanced whole-home water systems, circadian lighting programs, and a grounded, low-EMF interior environment. They're not just building condos; they're building environments optimized for human health. That resonates with me.
The Numbers Make Sense
I'm a broker. I think about real estate in terms of numbers. So let me be straight about the investment case.
We're currently in Friends & Family pricing—the lowest this project will ever be. The developer has actually published their pricing roadmap, something I've never seen in 21 years of doing this. They're that confident. At public launch in April, prices are projected to increase 20-28%. At groundbreaking, they go up again. At top off, again.
I've seen this pattern before. My clients who bought at St. Regis on the A line for $7 million are now sitting on units worth $10-11 million. Residences Mandarin Oriental Brickell buyers who got in early are already seeing significant appreciation before the building even delivers. Same story at Residences Dolce & Gabbana—pre-construction buyers positioned themselves at pricing that won't exist once the building opens. The ones who waited until later phases paid more and made less. Pre-construction rewards the early believers.
The Deposit Structure
10% at contract, 5% ninety days later, 15% at groundbreaking (April 2027), 10% at top off (December 2028), and 60% at closing (September 2030). You're putting 40% in over several years with projected appreciation building the entire time. If the pricing roadmap holds—and I believe it will—you're buying equity from day one.
Is there risk? Of course. Nothing in real estate is guaranteed. Markets shift. Timelines slip. But the fundamentals here are as strong as anything I've seen: last waterfront site, institutional backing, world-class design and hospitality, and genuine scarcity.
Miami's Culinary Evolution
Miami has become a legitimate culinary destination. Ten years ago, you had a handful of good restaurants and a lot of mediocre ones. Today? Zuma, Cipriani, Sexy Fish, Carbone, Major Food Group everywhere you turn. The dining scene rivals New York and LA.
But Nobu still sits at the top. Maybe tied for the top, depending on your taste, but definitely at that level. When I want to take a client to dinner, when I want to celebrate something that matters, when I want the experience to be flawless—it's Nobu. Having that in my building, having the option of in-residence Nobu dining, having a private Nobu chef available, having the poolside Nobu Café that's exclusive to residents... that's not just an amenity. That's a lifestyle.
The Bottom Line
I tell my clients to buy real estate based on fundamentals, not hype. Location, quality, scarcity, team, timing. Nobu Residences at 619 Brickell checks every box.
The last waterfront site in Brickell. Foster + Partners design. Nobu hospitality. Institutional backing. Pre-launch pricing. Wellness amenities that don't exist anywhere else in the city.
I'm not buying here because I'm selling here. I'm buying here because after 21 years of evaluating Miami luxury real estate, this is the project I believe in most. I'm putting my money where my mouth is.
If you want to know more, if you want to see the pricing and the floor plans, reach out. I'm one of a handful of outside brokers with Friends & Family access, and that window won't stay open forever. Let's talk.
