Painful as it is to concede, I don’t read many printed books anymore. Every so often, however, I stumble across one that reminds me why I stubbornly still cling to ink and pulp.
My current odyssey is Billionaires’ Row: Tycoons, Highrollers, And The Epic Race To Build The World’s Most Exclusive Skyscrapers by Katherine Clarke, a real estate writer who has covered the high end property market for over a decade. I’m obviously biased here. But Clarke’s book is riveting (construction pun intended) — even if you can’t fully appreciate the high drama of concrete mix design.
Her “gimlet-eyed” (Kirkus Reviews) page-turner chronicles an Icarian quartet of Manhattan developers who, over the past fifteen years, single-handedly transformed a run down, low-rise five-block stretch along West 57th Street at the southern end of Central Park into the densest concentration of ultra-luxury, stratospherically expensive residential real estate on earth.
Yet, what makes the origin story of Billionaires’ Row engrossing isn’t so much the pedigree of the buyers or the sophistication of the design (no one except the buildings’ super-affluent owners and their dog walkers are permitted inside anyways). Rather, it’s the sheer altitude of the towers themselves — and the structural and financial engineering required to build them — that provides the throughline drama and imperial flourish to Clarke’s book.
Four of the five high rises that make up Billionaires’ Row, including 111 W. 57th Street, Central Park Tower, 432 Park, and One57, are what are technically known as “supertalls”. (The fifth of the bunch, 220 Central Park South where the penthouse sold to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for $238 million, quizzically misses the supertall minimum height requirement by 32’.)
The international non-profit Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) classifies supertalls as vertical buildings whose highest, permanent architectural feature resides more than 300 meters, or 984’, off the ground. For context, that’s roughly the equivalent of three American football fields including the end zones stacked on top of one another. Or the U.S. Navy’s longest aircraft carrier standing up on its stern. The highest skyscraper in most American cities is less than half that height.
By CTBUH’s criteria, supertalls continue to extend up to 599 meters, or 1,965’, over which point they officially become “megatalls”. Only four buildings in the world have currently achieved this status, all of them built in the past fifteen years: the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Saudi Arabia (1,972’), China’s Shanghai Tower (2,073’), Merdeka 118 in Malaysia (2,228’), and the Burj Kalifa (2,717’), currently the world’s tallest building, which pierces over a half a mile into the sky above Dubai.
Supertalls, by comparison, have a longer, more storied history, especially in the U.S. — and in Manhattan specifically. New York’s Chrysler Building was the world’s first, topping out at 1,047’ in May 1930. Yet, its crown was short lived. Less than a year later in April 1931, the Empire State Building breached 1,250’ after only 410 days under construction.
It would take four more decades for the next generation of supertalls to emerge, which featured quantum-level advancements in materials, technology, and engineering. The most iconic of these included the World Trade Center north and south towers (1,368’ and 1,362’, respectively), which were built in 1972-1973, and Chicago’s Sears Tower (1,450’) completed in 1974 (now called Willis Tower), whose collective heights cemented America as the undisputed skyscraper capital of the world.
The irony of these late 20th century supertalls, however, was that only Chicago’s John Hancock Center (1,128’) built in 1969 was designed to be residential, offering a small, uber-affluent clique of owners a four state, 360-degree panorama of the world from as high as 876’ above Lake Michigan. The rest were all dedicated to commercial office space. That meant that for half of the day, no one was paying a premium to enjoy the views.
But, beginning in the early 2000s, the economics and demographics of building tall began to change. So did the size and sensibilities of the world’s millionaires and billionaires who started to regard collecting ultra-exclusive, high rise real estate not only as a solid financial investment, but also a class of social braggadocio akin to owning an Andy Warhol or a minority stake in a Premier League football team. Throw in a few major breakthroughs in construction engineering and this unexpected collision of events ignited a space race to push limits of vertical architecture all over again.
“For a while the economics of a supertall didn’t make sense, even for prime commercial office space,” says Ryan Shear, Managing Partner of real estate development firm, Property Markets Group (PMG), one of only two U.S. developers to coax multiple luxury residential supertalls out the ground, including 111 W. 57th Street on Billionaires’ Row. “Then all of a sudden that whole dynamic changed, especially in the residential sector,” continues Shear, who oversees all of PMG’s acquisitions, construction, design, marketing, sales and operations.
There are now 250 “completed” supertall buildings in the world depending on whose definition you use. China alone accounts for almost half of them. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks second with 37. The U.S. comes in third at 31. That’s more than triple the number seven years ago.
Yet, compared with the late 20th century boom, what makes this new generation of supertalls different is the number designed primarily for the luxury high-end residential market with no office space at all. In addition to the four condominium buildings on Billionaires’ Row, New York City is now home to four other residential supertalls: the Brooklyn Tower (1,066’), 53W53 (1,050’), 35 Hudson Yards (1,010’), and 520 Fifth Avenue (1,020’), which is still under construction. Chicago currently sports three: the Trump International Hotel and Tower (1,388’), opened in 2008, the St. Regis Hotel & Residences (1,198’), and the aforementioned John Hancock Center.
More tellingly, the U.S. supertall center of gravity has also swerved hard south to the South Florida’s, roughly tracking where the country’s .1% has been moving their voter registrations and tax returns over the past two few. And thanks to COVID, Miami’s fertile foundations for America’s next generation of 5-star, cloud-splitting skyscrapers doesn’t look like it’s shifting back north anytime soon. That portends major changes to more than just the city’s skyline.
South Florida’s first supertall is PMG’s second, designed on the heels of the firm’s 111 W. 57th Street tower and developed in partnership with the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel brand.
Currently halfway up to its full 100-story height and set to top off at 1,049’ next year, the Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami will be the tallest residential building on America’s East Coast outside of New York City when it opens in 2027. The building features 360 fully-furnished, flawlessly-finished private residences along with a 205-room luxury hotel on the edge of Biscayne Bay befitting the pedigree of one of the world’s most storied, luxury hotel brands famous for hosting royalty, heads of state, and celebrities and which was itself the world’s tallest hotel from 1931 to 1957.
The Waldorf Astoria Residence’s offset, stacked cube architecture, designed by renowned Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott, will also cut an unmistakable silhouette across Miami’s downtown, soaring 200’ above the next tallest building in nearby Brickell and signaling to the rest of America and the world that the city’s skyrocketing ‘It’ status, A-list allure, and global financial clout has deep foundations that are here to stay. (Miami’s second supertall will be the Dulce & Gabbana Residences Miami scheduled for completion in 2029.)
“The recent migration of wealth to Miami and South Florida is unprecedented,” Dan Kaplan tells me. “And many of the buyers who are moving here prefer the low maintenance and high service of a modern luxury condo building. On the flip side, New York City and Chicago are both losing a great deal of wealthy residents and businesses due to high taxes and some questionable governance.”
Along with Shear, Kaplan is PMG’s other Managing Partner, primarily overseeing capital markets, corporate operations, and the firm’s complex internal financial machinery. “So, it makes total sense for Miami to become the next prime location for high-end supertalls. Though there’s a world of difference between submitting plans for a supertall and actually delivering one.”
Kaplan’s last point is not a minor one. In addition to the Waldorf Astoria and Dulce & Gabbana Residences downtown, Miami has seven other residential skyscrapers taller than 984’ either proposed or in the early stages of design. If all of them come to fruition on schedule, the city will surpass New York City as of supertall capital of America by sometime in the early 2030s. That’s easier rendered than realized, however.
There are four main challenges to designing and building a thousand-foot skyscraper: finding the land, raising the money (they can cost over a billion dollars to build), de-risking the engineering, and closing enough buyers who want to live a quarter of a mile in the air. Each of these can be a monumental undertaking on its own; collectively, they’re akin to building a SpaceX rocket program. Not surprisingly, most of the real estate development firms in the world with the experience, capabilities, and sufficiently deep pockets to build one aren’t likely to even let the idea into the room.
“Tall buildings are heavy and need to withstand strong winds,” explains PMG’s Founder and CEO, Kevin Maloney, of the complex structural and financial engineering involved in developing an architecturally significant supertall, especially in South Florida where, by code, buildings need to withstand hurricane force gusts. “Our architects and engineers incorporate specialized aerodynamics, tuned mass dampers, and wind channeling into the building’s design to prevent ‘sway’. Every life safety, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing system also needs to be specially designed to perform over long distances with varying pressures and thermal conditions. Building supertalls is not for the impatient or the faint of heart.”
Before the first shovel hits the ground, a great deal of time and money is also spent on geotechnical design to produce suitable underground soil conditions to support a supertall’s foundation, adds Shear.
In addition to swaying, tall, narrow buildings can lean and sink. The 690’ Millennium Tower San Francisco, finished in 2009, had sank sixteen inches and tilted several inches northwest by the time residents were officially informed seven years later. One Seaport in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District began leaning three inches north in 2020 before it was even completed. Not surprisingly because of South Florida’s sponge-like bedrock of limestone and sand, a report released by the University of Miami recently found that 35 high rises along a ten mile stretch of oceanfront from Miami Beach to Sunny Isles may be sinking due to subsidence.
“Developers can get tempted to focus more on the high-end finishes and luxury amenities and skimp on the stuff that you don’t see,” Shear tells me, explaining how the Waldorf Astoria Residences’ underground foundation consumed disproportionate time and expense compared to virtually any other component of the building. “But this kind of due diligence is so critical because it minimizes the risks associated with settlement, which can cause a domino effect of issues.”
The good news is that the market conditions to afford the staggering cost of building a supertall are finally moving in developers’ favor. The boom in foreign buyers and international investors piling money into South Florida shows no sign of slowing and the ongoing stability of American real estate, particularly in the luxury residential sector, remains a key driver.
“International part-time residents are a prime buyer pool for supertalls,” says Shear, who spends eight to ten weeks a year traveling abroad to promote the firm’s projects with potential buyers, financiers, and development partners. “They’re attracted to the exclusivity of trophy properties, and U.S. real estate has remained a stable store of wealth throughout all types of global turmoil over the past few decades.”
Equally essential to the supertall math are the domestic forces that have been driving high net worth individuals to South Florida for two generations now: warm weather, small government, diverse cultural roots, and the lack of a state income tax which, for high wage earners and families that need an office to manage their financial affairs, is frequently the perk that seals the deal.
New York City’s Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledges to raise taxes on the city’s wealthiest residences and limit developers’ ability to increase rents may yet drive even more affluent American buyers south, adding further fuel to the current supertall boom. At last week’s Miami real estate back-slap fest hosted by The Real Deal, the “Mamdani Effect” had most of the real brokers and agents in attendance virtually dancing in their pant suits and stilettoes.
“Miami’s footprint is eight times smaller than New York City’s,” says Maloney. “Land acquisition and construction costs are expensive. And the few parcels of land that are left to build on here aren’t large to begin with, so you need to maximize the value of every sellable square foot. The prestige and volume of a supertall in a lot of cases is the only way to make the math work. The good news for us is that we’re good at building tall.”
As for the next wave of supertalls and the future of a Trillionaires Row sprouting up some day soon, the tea leaves are still swirling around on what’s next for Miami and the U.S. Dubai’s Burj Khalifa took six years to construct and more than 12,000 workers laboring twelve-hour days, six days a week. That’s not happening in New York, Chicago, or Miami. Only so many nine figure millionaires and billionaires also need another penthouse.
At the same time, architecture and real estate development aren’t simply matters of housing and industry. They are reflections of human culture, ambition, and technology on one of its grandest scales. None other than Frank Lloyd Wright drew up plans for a mile-high skyscraper called The Illinois that would soar 528 stories above Chicago back in 1956. And the Saudis still seem to believe it makes sense to build the 170 kilometer long, 500-meter high city called NEOM no matter how many petro-billions the mega-project ultimately stands to lose.
“Supertalls provide a rare combination of privacy and prestige,” says Shear of the possibility of building something even higher than the Waldorf Astoria Miami. “Anything taller would definitely have to have a story around it. It would need a brand and unique architecture to attract the right buyers.”
Whatever comes next, keep your eye on Miami. It’s game on here …