Swire Properties broke ground on its two-tower Mandarin Oriental project on Brickell Key on October 1. Five days later, Miami-Dade accepted a report that puts the remaining SMART transit corridors’ long-term funding gap at $7.6 billion. New homes and new transit are moving at very different speeds.

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That funding gap covers both building the lines and running them over a 20-year forecast through 2045. The county states the cost in today’s dollars. The five routes are the North, Beach, East-West, Kendall and Northeast corridors.

South Dade has a working link

Metro Express opened October 27, 2025. Its electric buses run on the South Dade TransitWay between Florida City and Dadeland South, where riders connect with Metrorail. Fourteen stations serve the 20-mile corridor. Riders board from raised platforms and pay before entering, reducing steps at each stop.

This gives South Dade a dedicated bus route toward the rail network. It also leaves a clear limit: riders traveling beyond Dadeland South still need to transfer. The service is bus rapid transit, not a southward Metrorail extension.

The next links have harder hurdles

The proposed Northeast Corridor would run 13.5 miles from Downtown Miami to Aventura on the existing rail corridor. Five new stops are planned, including Wynwood/Edgewater, the Design District and Little Haiti. The county says the project has entered engineering, but agreements for track access and operations remain part of the work.

The October 6 county report also cites the loss of $200 million in planned state funding for that line. Baylink faces a separate path. The planned Beach Corridor connects the mainland with Miami Beach; the report says its design phase follows required environmental studies. Neither project has opened for riders.

Brickell’s new buildings move ahead

At 1428 Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida 33131, Ytech is building a 70-story tower with 195 residences. The developer announced $565 million in construction financing in 2025. Arquitectonica designed the tower, and Coastal Construction is the builder.

Its planned solar glass is unusual, but its role is specific. Ytech’s project FAQ says the system will help power shared spaces. It will not power individual homes or serve as backup power. Shared areas include the building’s amenities and common spaces.

On Brickell Key, Mandarin Oriental’s October 6 announcement confirms that groundbreaking has taken place. Swire’s project has a 66-story South Tower with 228 private residences. A 33-story North Tower combines private homes, hotel residences and 121 hotel rooms. KPF designed the pair, with completion expected in 2030.

The work between neighborhoods

Downtown, the I-395 project is still under construction. The October 14 project update reports work on the bridge deck over Northeast Second Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard, plus a pedestrian bridge over the rail tracks. The wider highway project also includes a new double-decked section of State Road 836.

For the Northeast Corridor, the county is still working on agreements for track access, construction and train operations. Its report also cites disputes between Florida East Coast Railway and Brightline over shared tracks. Those talks, along with funding, will shape when Wynwood, the Design District and Little Haiti get the planned commuter stops.