If you’ve been keeping an eye on coastal real estate in Florida, you’re probably well aware of the boom in luxury residences in the Miami metropolitan area. It’s led to a lot of recognizable names opening up architecturally distinctive towers — and a whole lot of interesting amenities. But a recent scientific study reveals that living in some of these buildings comes with another unique experience: that of descending very slowly.
In other words, dozens of high-end residential buildings are sinking. A paper published earlier this month in the journal Earth and Space Science studied Miami’s barrier islands between 2016 and 2023. What they found was evidence of widespread sinking, with 70% of the buildings studied in Sunny Isles Beach showing signs of it.
Among the researchers’ findings were that the the Armani Casa, Millennium condominium, and Porsche Design Tower all showed signs of what they refer to as “LOS displacement.” The amount for each of the three buildings could be measured in centimeters, but the fact that it’s happening at all came as a surprise.
“[I]n Miami’s limestone we would expect instantaneous settlement during construction followed by a few months of post-construction settlement,” the study’s authors wrote. They went on to offer a few explanations for why this has not been the case for a number of buildings, including the effects of tides and the vibrations caused by the construction of newer buildings.
Branded Luxury Towers Are on the Rise in Miami
What’s behind this phenomenon?As Dezeen’s Ben Dreith pointed out, the possibility of some sinking hasn’t slowed the pace of construction around Miami. This is also not a phenomenon that’s exclusive to Miami. It’s an ongoing concern for many cities, and it’s led some local governments to take bold actions in attempts to stop it.
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