MIAMI — Engineers used explosives to implode the Mandarin Oriental Miami, a 26-year-old 23-story hotel in Brickell Key, in about 20 seconds on a windy Sunday morning.
Swire Properties, a real estate developer, worked with BG Group personnel and Miami police officers to close the Brickell Key Bridge, which connects the man-made, triangular-shaped island to Brickell.
The bridge will reopen at 1:30 p.m. The deadline for residents to leave Brickell Key was 7 a.m. The BG Group personnel asked residents to keep windows closed and turn off their air conditioning units during the implosion.
“We are very grateful for the city of Miami and all of their assistance, the building department, the fire department, the police department, there was such close coordination again 2 years in the making that went off in 20 seconds,” said Jessica Chen, a member of the developer team.
Emergency vehicles were staged at 6:30 a.m. near 500 Brickell Key Drive. The vibration monitors were installed at 6 a.m.
The final setup of barricades and signage to secure the “exclusion zone” on both land and water was at 4 a.m.
The implosion will make way for the two-story The Residences at Mandarin Oriental that Swire Properties expects to complete in 2030.
Rubble remains where hotel once stood
Crowd gets last pictures of building
Location
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
