The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a 23-story hotel tower located on Miami’s Brickell Key, will be demolished in a matter of 20 seconds on Sunday, more than two decades after it first opened its doors.
The implosion will see the building “come down in what looks like a very artistic method, and it will almost spiral into itself,” Ivy Fradin from the BG Group Demolition, the company organizing the demolition, told Miami’s WSVN 7News.
Newsweek has contacted Swire Properties, the owners of the hotel, and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The demolition has been described as the largest implosion in Miami in over a decade. The new residential and hotel complex to replace the venue could rival the recently completed Una Residences, another high-profile residential tower in the Brickell neighborhood, designed by Gordon Gill, the architect behind the world’s tallest building.
What To Know
The demolition is scheduled to take place at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. While an evacuation of the area will not be required, a strict exclusion zone within 800 feet of the hotel will be in place from 7:30 a.m., with all traffic shut down within the area until 1:30 p.m.
Residents who live within the exclusion zone are advised to remain indoors and keep their windows closed. Those who want to leave the area before the demolition must do so before 7 a.m. Crew, as well as police and fire rescue units will be on standby for any assistance needed.
A City of Miami police officer Michael Vega told WSVN 7News: “Officers will be present to make sure that, number one, everybody is safe, and number two, that nobody is coming in that shouldn’t be in the demolition zone.”
According to officials, multiple floors of the hotel have been fitted with explosives designed to cause the building to collapse straight down. The implosion is expected to last 20 seconds, with low vibrations, and there will be “a nine-to-10-second period where the only thing that’s happening as you’re watching is something that you’re hearing,” Fradin told WSVN.
The “dust will mitigate within a matter of minutes,” Fradin noted, and the debris from the implosion is intended to fall into the building’s footprint. A couple of barges have been set up to catch “any potential debris that will fall into the bay, even though none is expected,” she added.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami opened back in 2000 and was considered one of the most luxurious places to stay in the city before it was closed on May 31, 2025. The new complex to replace it will include private residences as well as the new Mandarin Oriental hotel, which will offer 121 guest rooms and suites.
What People Are Saying
Ivy Fradin from the BG Group Demolition, told NBC Miami: “I think it’s gonna have a big wow factor and I think everybody needs to know that there’s as much an artistic component as there is an engineering component, so not only is it pretty to watch, but there’s an awful lot of planning and engineering and choreography of explosives that come together to make this go successfully.”
Henry Bott, the former president of Swire Properties, told the Miami Herald last year that the hotel’s average daily rate and revenue generated per room have not been trending upwards in recent years, noting: “We’re missing out on maximizing the full potential.”
What Happens Next
The old hotel venue will be replaced by The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami, a complex offering private residences and a smaller hotel, which is slated for completion in 2030.
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