List of tallest buildings in Miami

20th century–2000s

Miami's skyscraper history began in 1912 with the six story Burdine's Department Store, becoming the first skyscraper in Miami. The McAllister Hotel later opened on December 31, 1919, becoming the largest building in Miami located at Flagler Street and Biscayne Blvd, holding the title of tallest building until 1925. The Freedom Tower, built in 1925, is Miami's best-known early skyscraper and remains an icon of the city. From the mid-1990s through the late 2000s, Miami went through the largest building boom in the city's history. In what was dubbed a "Manhattanization wave", there were nearly 60 structures proposed, approved or under construction in the city that were planned to rise over 492 feet (150 m) in height. As a result of the construction boom, only two of the city's 25 tallest buildings were completed before the year 2000, and the city has the third-largest skyline in the United States, generally ranking only behind New York City and Chicago.^[7]

The boom, however, ended abruptly around 2008 when the real estate market crashed and the late-2000s recession began. By 2011 the market began to return, with new office and condominium projects such as Brickell House announced for construction beginning in 2012.^[8] This was followed by a second boom that is currently active as of January 2019. This second boom has more proposed towers for the region than were built in the first boom from 2003 to 2010.^[9] Only 10 buildings out of 80 on the list were built before 2000, and only 18 were built before 2005.

2010s–present

The tallest completed structure is Panorama Tower in Brickell. It reached the height taller than any other building in Miami in August 2017. The auger cast pile deep foundation system for Panorama Tower was installed by HJ Foundation, a subsidiary of Keller Group.^[10] Currently under construction are three buildings that are estimated to surpass the Panorama Tower upon completion: Waldorf Astoria Miami, Cipriani Residences Miami, and Okan Tower.

Additionally, the tallest active proposals include One Bayfront Plaza (OBP)^[11] and One Brickell City Centre (OBCC),^[12] both of which may rise over 1,000 feet (305 m).^[13] One Bayfront Plaza is a mixed-use building proposed for 100 South Biscayne Boulevard, approved for construction since 2007, and scheduled to be completed as early as 2018. Since then, it has gone through several design changes and does not have a reliable construction date. By the end of 2016, there were about ten proposals for supertall buildings in downtown and Brickell. In addition to OBCC and OPB, these included The Towers by Foster + Partners, One MiamiCentral, World Trade Center of the Americas, Skyrise (tower), as well as the more speculative Sky Plaza and One Fifth.^[14][15]

Tallest buildings

There have been several buildings in Miami that have held the title as the tallest building in the city. While the 5-story Burdine's Department Store was the first high-rise building in the city, the Freedom Tower is generally regarded as Miami's first skyscraper, when it was completed in 1925. The Dade County Courthouse was completed in 1928 and held the title as the tallest building in Miami for 44 years until the completion of One Biscayne Tower in 1972. Southeast Financial Center became the tallest building in 1984. From 2003 to 2008, and again in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Manhattanization of the city led to a huge amount of new development. Several buildings were constructed, with the Four Seasons Hotel Miami overtaking the Southeast Financial Center when it was completed in 2003. In 2017, Panorama Tower overtook the Four Seasons as the tallest in the city and the state. In a second building boom from 2014 to 2017, many more skyscrapers in excess of 800 feet (240 m) were approved by the FAA, including several 1,000-foot (300 m) supertalls. Many of these were among the top ten tallest buildings in the city. In 2022, the Waldorf Astoria Miami began construction as the city's first supertall building, exceeding 1000 ft.

FAA height limits

Due to the proximity and alignment of the runways of Miami International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration imposes strict height limits in the downtown Miami area. One Bayfront Plaza^[16] was for many years the tallest building ever to be approved for construction in the city, at the maximum FAA height limit of 1,049 feet (320 m), though several other buildings were approved at similar heights since then. It was later reduced and is expected to rise 1,010 feet (308 m), with 80 floors.^[17] It also has the distinction of being the first skyscraper over 1,000 feet (305 m), known as a "supertall", to be approved in Miami. Several other buildings have been proposed to rise over 1,000 feet (305 m), including One Brickell City Centre, but have been reduced by the FAA.

Approvals for comparably tall buildings in Miami are very rare due to the proximity of Miami International Airport (MIA). The main runways of MIA align planes taking off and landing directly over the greater downtown area, and for this reason the Federal Aviation Administration sets precise height limits for construction in Downtown Miami. The fate of high rise construction in Miami was greatly threatened by a "One Engine Inoperative" (OEI) policy proposed by the FAA in 2014. This proposal would drastically reduce the maximum permitted height of structures around 388 airports in the country, even causing existing structures to be modified.^[18] In the end, the FAA did not go forward with the extreme limitations and even began giving quicker approvals to buildings with heights up to 1,049 feet (320 m), leading to many proposed and approved supertall projects.^[14]

Tallest buildings by neighborhood

This lists the tallest building in each neighborhood, district, or sub-district of Miami. Note that all buildings over 400 feet (120 m) are within the Greater Downtown area between the Julia Tuttle Causeway and Rickenbacker Causeway, east of Interstate 95. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed or topped-out for still under construction or stalled buildings. A dash "–" indicates a building's exact height is unknown.