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Kempinski vs. Anantara Miami: Two Branded Debuts on Biscayne Boulevard

By Adrian Sanchez, WIRE Miami · September 2026

Kempinski Residences and Anantara Miami are two hotel brands making their first United States residential projects a few blocks apart on Biscayne Boulevard. Kempinski is the larger-residence, residential-only choice at $3,761,200 to $5,887,800. Anantara is the resort-and-hotel choice, with a wider range of $1,715,000 to $6,108,000.

WIRE Miami represents buyers at both, and this is the pair I get asked to compare most often on this stretch of the bay. Below is how they line up on price, size, payment timing, design and daily life, using the developers' own 2026 price lists and schedules. Where a figure has not been published, I say so and tell you how to get it, rather than fill the gap with a guess.

Where are Kempinski Residences and Anantara Miami located?

Kempinski Residences sits on two parcels at 3801 and 3883 Biscayne Boulevard, at the gateway to the Miami Design District. Anantara Miami is planned for 3601 Biscayne Boulevard in Edgewater. The two sites are a few blocks apart on the same corridor, so the real decision is the building, not the neighborhood.

That proximity is useful, because it removes the question buyers usually spend the most time on. From either address, the Design District's boutiques, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the de la Cruz Collection are close by, and Brickell and Downtown are a drive south. If you commute to Brickell every day, that drive is part of the decision for both buildings equally.

The difference is in how each building meets the bay. Anantara is a single 50-story tower, 650 feet tall, and its site faces north over Biscayne Bay with unobstructed water views. Kempinski is two 23-story towers with four residences per floor, and every residence is a corner, with bay, skyline and sunset exposures according to the developer. Neither project is oceanfront. A buyer who needs to walk onto the sand should be looking in Sunny Isles Beach or Bal Harbour, not here.

How do Kempinski and Anantara prices compare?

On the current lists, Kempinski runs $3,761,200 to $5,887,800 (developer early access list, July 2026) and Anantara runs $1,715,000 to $6,108,000 (developer resort residences sheet, September 2026, plus the August 14, 2026 inventory). Anantara reaches lower because it sells one-bedroom resort residences. Kempinski begins at two bedrooms plus den.

Kempinski figures are from the July 2026 early access list. Anantara resort figures are from the September 2026 sheet, and the private residence figures are from the August 14, 2026 inventory. Lists move, so I confirm availability and the current number on any residence before you rely on it.

The number that matters most is the like-for-like comparison, and the closest one is the three-bedroom. Kempinski's three-bedroom plus den runs 2,685 to 2,699 square feet and opens at $4,804,200, which works out to about $1,789 per square foot. Anantara's three-bedroom private residence is 2,684 square feet at $4,755,000, about $1,772 per square foot. At four bedrooms, Kempinski's 3,102 square feet at $5,641,500 is about $1,819 per foot, and Anantara's 3,314 square feet at $6,108,000 is about $1,843.

In other words, at the family-size end, the two developers have priced within a few percent of each other per foot. The choice at that level is about the product, not the price. The gap opens only at the small end, where Anantara offers furnished one and two-bedroom resort residences and Kempinski offers nothing below a 2,151 square foot two-bedroom plus den. You can see every Kempinski line on the residences section and request the plans through floor plans.

What are the deposit schedules at Kempinski and Anantara?

Kempinski's schedule is published: 10% at contract, 5% three months after contract, 5% nine months after contract, 10% at groundbreaking (estimated summer 2027), 10% at top-off, and the 60% balance at closing, estimated Q1 2030. Anantara's schedule is confirmed by a WIRE Miami agent with the current release, so get it in writing before you commit.

Here is what the Kempinski ladder looks like on the entry two-bedroom plus den at $3,761,200:

• At contract (10%): $376,120
• Three months after contract (5%): $188,060
• Nine months after contract (5%): $188,060
• At groundbreaking, estimated summer 2027 (10%): $376,120
• At top-off (10%): $376,120
• At closing, estimated Q1 2030 (60%): $2,256,720

That is $1,504,480, or 40%, paid before closing. There is no separate reservation deposit in the current schedule: the first payment is the 10% at contract. This schedule replaced an earlier version in September 2026, so if you have an older Kempinski brochure, the deposit page in it is out of date. The full schedule is also on the deposits section of this site.

The practical read on 40% before closing is that it is capital you will not have access to for roughly three and a half years, and the spacing matters as much as the total. The first 20% lands within nine months of signing. The next 20% is tied to construction milestones, so its timing moves with the construction schedule rather than the calendar. Buyers who plan to finance the 60% balance should talk to a lender about the closing well before top-off, not after.

For Anantara, the developer's sales team has confirmed the schedule is unchanged for the current release, and I send it with the price list and plans. I do not publish it here because Anantara releases residences in stages, and the terms that apply are the ones attached to the residence you are actually offered.

What does each brand mean for daily life in the building?

Kempinski is residential only. Kempinski Group manages daily operations, but there is no hotel in either tower. Anantara puts three collections under one hotel service umbrella: 100 private residences, 120 resort residences and 50 boutique hotel suites on the lower floors, so there is hotel activity in the building.

Kempinski, founded in 1897, is Europe's oldest independent luxury hotel company, and this is its first branded residential project in the United States. The service model is built for owners: 17 guest suites reserved for residents' visitors, a dedicated house car for each tower, and the building run day to day by the Kempinski team. What you give up is any hotel rental program. If renting your residence matters to you, I send the association's rental rules with the documents so you can read them before you sign.

Anantara is the first United States project for its parent, Minor Hotels, which operates more than 630 properties worldwide, and owners receive concierge access to that network. The 120 resort residences are eligible for Anantara-managed rental programming, with terms and restrictions confirmed through me. The trade-off is the one the developer's own record names: hotel operations mean guest traffic in the building. Some buyers want that energy. Others want a lobby where they know every face, and for them Kempinski's four-per-floor layout is the better fit.

One more point applies to both. Neither brand is as familiar to American buyers as the names that dominate Brickell. For a European, Gulf or Asian buyer who has stayed at Kempinski or Anantara properties, the name carries real weight. For a domestic buyer, the case rests on the building itself, which is why the design teams below matter.

How do the amenities compare?

Kempinski spreads about 70,000 square feet of amenities across two towers joined by an elevated amenity bridge, with wellness in the North Tower and social space in the South Tower. Anantara centers its program on a resort-level pool deck facing the bay, a Thai-inspired spa, a vitality center and a curated art program, all under hotel service.

At Kempinski, the North Tower holds the fitness center, spa, treatment rooms, a wellness cafe and a lap pool with cabanas. The South Tower holds a game room, golf simulator, F1 simulator, music studio, private dining and a screening room. Outdoors there is a padel court, a lawn sports area, an outdoor theatre, a beach-entry pool and a splash pad, plus a kids' room, a children's playroom and a teen lounge. It is one of the more complete family programs I have seen in a building of 134 residences. The full list is on the amenities section.

Anantara's program is smaller in the published list but deeper in service, because it is run as a hotel. If your idea of an amenity is a spa appointment and a pool attendant, Anantara leans that way. If it is a golf simulator on a Tuesday night and a playroom for the kids, Kempinski leans that way.

Who designed and who is developing each project?

Kempinski is designed by Arquitectonica, with interiors by Rockwell Group and landscape by Enea, and is developed by DaGrosa Capital Development Partners. Anantara is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) with ODP Architecture & Design, with interiors by Patricia Urquiola, and is developed by One Thousand Group in partnership with Minor Hotels.

Inside the Kempinski residences, the specification is Rockwell-designed kitchens with Gaggenau appliances, including a built-in coffee machine, Kallista fixtures by Kohler in the primary baths, and marble flooring throughout. Anantara's interiors are Patricia Urquiola's first residential project in the United States, which is a genuine draw for buyers who follow design.

The developer side deserves a plain read. DaGrosa Capital is a newer developer without a Miami delivery track record, and I tell every Kempinski buyer that before they sign. The counterweights are a strong design team, Kempinski's operating role and sales led by ISG World. Anantara is in a very early sales cycle with deposits committed over multiple years, and the delivery estimate is something I confirm with the current release rather than quote from a brochure. Both are pre-construction purchases, and both should be treated as a hold through closing.

Which one should you buy, Kempinski or Anantara?

Buy Kempinski if you want a large corner residence, four residences per floor, no hotel traffic, a published payment schedule and a family-oriented amenity program. Buy Anantara if you want a lower entry point, a furnished resort residence, hotel service with optional managed rental programming, or the height and north bay views of a 50-story tower.

Kempinski's estimated delivery is Q1 2030. For Anantara, I confirm the current delivery estimate with the release you are offered. If you are weighing both, the fastest way to decide is to put a Kempinski three-bedroom plus den next to an Anantara three-bedroom private residence, same size and nearly the same price, and compare the floor plans, the views from the specific floors, and the deposit timing. I can send both sets through the contact form, and you can read more about Anantara on the Anantara Residences Miami site. For the line-by-line Kempinski numbers, see the Kempinski pricing and floor plan analysis.