IS MIAMI'S FRANTIC SUPERTALL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FRENZY FUELED BY INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING?

Existing supertall buildings in the City of Miami and scheduled construction 2023-2030

The City of Miami is in the midst of a construction boom the likes of which it has not seen since the 1980s, when dirty money flowed through local banks. Narcotics profits, funds stolen by corrupt foreign PEPs, developers looking for a piece of the action in Downtown, the exploding Miami Beach Art Deco District, and building condominiums changed what had been previously only a vacation venue forever. Miami became an international destination, complete with the residencies of Hollywood film stars and became Europe's playground for its affluent.

Fast forward to the Pandemic, when remotely working professionals from up North found that they could relocate to a less restrictive  environment, and skip that cold weather altogether. Add to that a sudden migration of tech companies, attracted by a business-friendly less regulated state, and you have a recipe for a sudden construction boom like what happened here in the 1930s. The difference is we are talking about what are referred to as Supertall buildings, office buildings and condominiums that approach one hundred stories, the upper limit imposed by the FAA, given that downtown is on the arrival flight path for Miami International Airport (MIA). 

Given the costs of building such tall structures, the financing requirements are extraordinary; up to hundreds of millions of dollars just to purchase that attractive Bayfront tract, which might even mean demolition of an older building and then you have construction costs. International developers with deep pockets only need apply, thank you. Others will need financing. There's the rub.

We now come to the problem; will the politicians in the City of Miami, bedazzled by the prospects of a huge new tax base, to be paid by these new buildings, which are often taller than New York's skyscrapers, overlook certain details regarding the Source of Funds of Asian and European developers? Will Miami once again be fueled by dirty money, both in the construction of the New Miami, and in the purchase of high-priced million dollar condominiums by wealthy buyers from abroad? 

Next door to the building where I currently reside, a super-luxury waterfront condominium project is fast going up, being built by a Russian developer. I certainly would like to know the extent of enhanced due diligence that must be performed upon all foreign buyers, concerning their Source of Funds and Source of Wealth, who are arriving here. This is not a critique of the project; I am a Russian-American myself, but the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 applies to everyone.

Given Miami's dark history, we hope that bank compliance officers, using 21st century advanced AML technology not previously available to them, and acting as gatekeepers, regarding both developers' funding and the wealth of individual purchasers from abroad, separate the wheat from the chaff, and keep illicit capital from funding the new Miami. Govern yourselves accordingly, ladies and gentlemen.