$2.5 Billion Construction! How Citadel’s Miami Supertall Stacks Up—in Miami, Florida, and the U.S.

Citadel Chief Executive Officer Ken Griffin recently told Bloomberg that Citadel’s planned headquarters tower on Brickell Bay Drive will cost about $2.5 billion. The Foster + Partners–designed supertall is approved to reach 1,049 feet—Miami’s current FAA maximum—and, per recent filings/coverage, is planned for 58 floors (mixed office and hotel).

Would $2.5 Billion be the Most Expensive in Miami?

Very likely, yes. Among publicly reported tower budgets in Miami, nothing else approaches $2.5 billion. As a reference point, the 868-foot Panorama Tower opened with an estimated $800 million budget—far short of $2.5 billion—underscoring how extraordinary Citadel’s figure is.

Bottom line (Miami): Citadel Tower is poised to be the most expensive single tower ever built in Miami based on available public reporting.

Would $2.5 Billion be the Most Expensive in Florida?

Also very likely. Florida has seen mega-projects, but publicly disclosed single-tower budgets at or above $2B are exceptionally rare. At ~$2.5 billion, Citadel’s tower would almost certainly set a new statewide benchmark for a lone high-rise building.

Would $2.5 Billion be the Most Expensive in United States?

No. A few U.S. towers have exceeded $2.5 billion. Notably One World Trade Center reportedly cost about $3.8 billion while One Vanderbilt in NYC is cited to have cost around $3.31 billion. That places Citadel’s $2.5B below the national peak but squarely in the ultra-elite cost tier.

Height & Floors—and Why 58 Stories at 1,049 Feet is Wild

Citadel Tower will match Miami’s other two headline supertalls—Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami (100 stories) and 888 Brickell (90 stories)—at 1,049 feet. But Citadel plans only 58 floors to reach the same height. That implies very tall floor-to-floor heights (think large trading floors, showpiece lobbies, amenities/crown, and mechanical volumes) compared with slender residential towers that pack more floors into the same height.

To illustrate the “tall floors” idea, here’s a rough average height per floor (simply total height ÷ floor count; this is an approximation because spires/crowns/mechanical levels vary by building):

• Citadel Tower (Miami) — 1,049 feet / 58 stories ≈ 18.1 feet per floor
• Waldorf Astoria Miami — 1,049 feet / 100 stories ≈ 10.5 feet per floor
• 888 Brickell — 1,049 feet / 90 stories ≈ 11.7 feet per floor

For context with prominent U.S. office supertalls (which also favor taller floor-to-floor dimensions):

• Comcast Technology Center (Philadelphia) — 1,121 feet / ~60 stories ≈ 18.7 feet per floor
• Salesforce Tower (San Francisco) — 1,070 feet / 61 stories ≈ 17.5 feet per floor
• Bank of America Tower (NYC) — 1,200 feet / 55 stories ≈ 21.8 feet per floor
• One Vanderbilt (NYC) — 1,401 feet (including the spire) / 59 stories ≈ 23.7 feet per floor (Note: roof without the spire is 1,301 feet / only using roof height ≈ 22.1 feet per floor)

Takeaway: Citadel’s ratio sits right in the pocket for modern, trophy-grade office supertalls, and miles above typical residential floor-to-floor averages. The same 1,049-ft cap yields 58 office-caliber floors at Citadel versus 90–100 residential floors at 888/Waldorf.

Why the $2.5 Billion Price Tag Makes Sense for an Office Supertall

• Program & quality: Large trading floors, premium MEP systems, high-spec curtain wall, and signature public/amenity spaces drive costs far above typical condo towers.
• Inflation & scope: Griffin himself cited construction inflation and design enhancements as drivers from an earlier ~$1 billion idea to ~$2.5 billion today.
• Benchmarking: Compared with top-tier U.S. office icons (One Vanderbilt, One WTC), the budget level is consistent with world-class corporate HQ ambitions.

The Citadel Tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive in Brickell Miami is currently in permitting and design refinement stages, and Griffin recently noted construction is expected to begin mid-to-late 2026. While a firm “completion date” has not been publicly reported, early filings suggest a typical build-out of five or more years, which would place full completion in the early 2030s.