Glass residential towers over retail podiums along the Miami River, and the tower whose Conrad hotel played the nightclub Mansion in Miami Vice.
What Brickell looks like
Brickell Avenue runs south from the Miami River to Biscayne Bay, with towers of glass and concrete lining both sides the full length. Podiums five to eight storeys tall carry parking decks and ground floor retail, and the residential and office towers above them run from forty storeys past eighty. Interstate 95 marks the inland edge. Broadway, signed SW 15th Road, splits the financial towers on the avenue's north half from the residential ones on its south half.
The Atlantis, at 2025 on the avenue, has a five storey cutout in its face. It opens to the sky around a spiral stair, a hot tub and a palm tree. Farther north at number 1395, 's glass front curves into a concave arch that runs the tower's full 36 storeys.
, on South Miami Avenue, is a low rise block of outdoor restaurants and shops built around open squares in a Mediterranean style. The avenue ends at the Miami River, where a bascule drawbridge lifts on signal for boat traffic outside the weekday rush hour windows.
An elevated Metromover runs free loops through the area, with stations roughly every two blocks. The Metrorail's own station sits where SW 1st Avenue meets SW 11th Street. stands a few blocks in from the bay, rising 85 storeys. A Hyatt hotel, apartments, offices and shops fill it.
Shot in Brickell
Miami Vice's opening titles use the 's cutout at 2025 Brickell Avenue, and the building appears again as an exterior in two episodes of the series. Farther north on the same avenue, the Espirito Santo Plaza tower has its own screen history, a nightclub scene in the 2006 film and a separate credit in Burn Notice.
Miami Vice, 2006
Espirito Santo Plaza
The Conrad hotel here doubled as the nightclub Mansion for a prostitution bust scene near the start of Michael Mann's Miami Vice. The tower itself also appears in the Burn Notice episode Signals and Codes. It has since rebranded twice, most recently as Brickell Arch, A Luxury Collection Hotel. The tower and its arch are unchanged. Street View
What Brickell can double for
Coal Harbour in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Coal Harbour's glass residential towers over ground floor retail share the same building type as Brickell, stepped back from the water with a marina in front. Vancouver's mountains on the skyline and its conifers give it away in any wide shot, so tight framing at street level holds the illusion better. Try searching glass towers over a marina now.
Punta Pacifica in Panama City, Panama
Punta Pacifica's cluster of glass residential towers over ground floor retail matches Brickell's own contemporary skyline, curved and faceted towers packed close along the water. Panama City's older colonial Casco Viejo sits nearby and has to stay out of frame to hold the Brickell read, and Spanish signage needs swapping if it shows. Try searching glass towers over water now.
Dubai Marina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai Marina's glass towers rise straight from a narrow waterway with ground floor retail at the base, the same podium and tower shape Brickell repeats along its own water. Dubai's uniform tower heights and the marina's own promenade railings differ from Brickell's more varied skyline and give it away in a wide shot. Try searching narrow waterway glass towers now.
