Clad in his signature white suit and fedora, Alan Faena joined development partners Edgardo Defortuna and Shahab Karmely to mark the official opening of the Faena Residences Miami Cultural Pavilion and Collaboratory. The event, held Saturday night at 90 Southwest Third Street on the Miami River, introduced a new sales center and cultural hub for the planned Faena Residences towers.
“We are offering happiness,” Faena said during the celebration. The center features mockups of the residences and design elements reminiscent of the theater at Miami Beach’s Faena District.
The sales gallery opened earlier this year, with buyers beginning to sign contracts over the summer following an initial marketing campaign focused on friends and family, according to Defortuna. Fortune International Group, based in Brickell, is partnering with New York-based KAR Properties and Faena on this project.
The planned development will include two 68-story towers with a total of 440 condos connected by a roughly 50,000-square-foot bridge featuring amenities. Units will range from one to four bedrooms as well as penthouses. Prices start at $1.4 million for standard units and reach up to $35 million for penthouses.
Defortuna reported that nearly 100 units have been presold for a combined $300 million, with demand split about 60 percent foreign buyers and 40 percent domestic buyers.
Saturday’s event took place on the vacant riverfront site where construction is set to begin mid or late next year. Completion is expected in 2029.
Faena Residences marks the second Faena-branded project in Miami-Dade County after Miami Beach’s Faena District. The brand also has developments in New York and Buenos Aires, with plans for future projects in Tulum and the Middle East.
“Faena is Faena. Faena is a place like no other,” said Alan Faena after his speech on stage. “It’s a place of fantasy, a place of entertainment, a place for fun.”
This project represents phase one of KAR and Fortune’s three-phase plan covering more than five acres along the Miami River District; details about later phases were not disclosed but are expected to include shared spaces such as landscaped areas and educational hubs.
The sky bridge connecting both towers will house amenities including a movie theater under a dome structure, library, demonstration kitchen, recording studio, among others designed to foster community engagement.
Karmely noted that this was one of architect Rafael Viñoly’s last projects before his death in 2023.
Buyers so far include Raphaella and Christian Sigel from Brazil who reserved a two-bedroom vacation home; Dr. Ash Beharrie from Sunrise purchasing for his family; and Sanjeev Raman from downtown Miami investing with possible plans to use it as their primary residence due to affinity for “the brand and lifestyle” offered by Faena Rose membership club.
While South Florida has seen its condo buyer demographic shift toward more domestic purchasers since the pandemic—with increased interest from New Yorkers—developers anticipate further movement due to recent political changes in New York City leadership that may drive additional migration southward.
“I think inevitably we will get [New York] buyers,” Karmely said. “But I don’t want people to come here because they are escaping something. I want them to come here because this has become the city of the Western Hemisphere.”
Defortuna added that these trends have led some foreign buyers to accelerate purchases amid concerns about rising prices if demand increases further: “Foreign buyers are used to buying preconstruction… But they feel if New Yorkers come, prices are going to be increasing.”
According to Defortuna, interest remains strong among Argentinean buyers—his own home country—as well as those from Brazil and Mexico.
The new development adds another branded condo option within South Florida’s crowded market; according to Knight Frank research cited by Savills Miami leads North America with dozens already completed or planned—second globally only behind Dubai—with other notable brands like Ritz-Carlton, Waldorf Astoria, and Nobu planning nearby projects as reported by Savills .
Despite competition from established names in luxury real estate branding across South Florida neighborhoods such as Brickell or North Bay Village—including Ritz-Carlton or Waldorf Astoria—the developers remain confident:
“There are a lot of people selling burgers: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s… What we have here is such a completely different approach,” Karmely said. “There is no other competition because frankly you cannot pick another project that brings [our] combination of talent, location execution capability design.”
