No single person owns Fisher Island. The 216-acre barrier island south of Miami Beach is split among four distinct owners: hundreds of individual residents who hold title to their condos and estates, the Fisher Island Community Association that owns the roads and shared infrastructure, the Fisher Island Club that owns the golf course and other amenities, and a developer group still holding the last unsold units of a new condominium project. Each layer runs under its own legal structure, which is why the island operates less like a neighborhood and more like a privately run small town.
The Individual Property Owners
Most of the island’s physical footprint belongs to hundreds of individual owners holding condominium deeds or fee-simple titles. The housing stock is dominated by mid-rise and high-rise condominium buildings, with a smaller number of waterfront estate homes along the perimeter. Listing prices currently run from roughly $3.5 million for smaller condominiums to $45 million or more for top-floor units and waterfront estates, and the average home value sits around $6.4 million.
Many of these owners do not hold title in their personal names. They buy through limited liability companies or trusts, which adds a layer of privacy that suits the international business figures, financiers, and public personalities who make up much of the resident population. The island has about 1,000 full-time residents across roughly 700 households. Each owner pays property taxes to Miami-Dade County on the assessed value of their unit, plus the mandatory association assessments described below, plus club dues if they hold a membership.
The Fisher Island Community Association
The common areas of the island are owned by the Fisher Island Community Association, a mandatory-membership homeowners association organized under Florida Statute Chapter 720.1Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 720 – Homeowners’ Associations Every property owner on the island is automatically a member and is required to pay assessments. If those assessments go unpaid, the association can place a lien on the owner’s property.
What the association actually owns is substantial. It holds the roads, the landscaping, the security systems, and the private ferry that is the only way most people reach the island. The ferry runs around the clock, every day of the year, between a terminal on the MacArthur Causeway and the island dock.2Fisher Island Club. Island Transportation There is no bridge and no public road. Guests cannot show up unannounced; every visitor needs pre-arranged security clearance before boarding, and vehicles must meet size restrictions to fit on the ferry.
In practice the association functions as a quasi-governmental body. It sets architectural standards, enforces community rules, manages waste and utilities, and coordinates the logistics of moving construction materials, delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles by water. The annual assessments that fund all of this are considerable, reflecting the cost of running a private island where every resource arrives by boat.
The Fisher Island Club
The luxury amenities are owned separately, by the Fisher Island Club. The club is a private equity club, meaning members hold an actual ownership stake in its assets rather than just a right to use them.3Fisher Island Club. Membership Page Those assets include a championship golf course, a tennis center, deep-water marinas, spa facilities, a hotel, restaurants, and a private beach.
Owning a home on Fisher Island does not come with access to any of this. Access requires buying an equity membership in the club, which currently carries a $350,000 equity contribution fee plus annual assessments that run into the tens of thousands of dollars.4Fisher Island Club. Equity Membership Equity members hold the voting power that governs how the club’s assets are managed.
The Developer of the Final Parcel
One ownership block on the island is temporary. In 2022, a joint venture led by the Related Group, with partners Teddy Sagi, BH Group, and Wanxiang America RE Group, closed on the last buildable parcel at 6 Fisher Island Drive for $122.6 million.5Business Wire. Related Group, Teddy Sagi and BH Group Close on Last Development Parcel on the Iconic Fisher Island The project, Six Fisher Island, is a 10-story building with 50 condominium residences. The developers secured a $400 million construction loan, and sales have already topped $500 million, with individual units listing above $17 million.
Until each unit closes, the development entity holds title to the unsold inventory. Once the building sells out, the developers exit their ownership position on the island, and those parcels pass permanently to individual buyers under the same community association framework that governs everything else. Six Fisher Island marks the end of new ground-up construction here; there are no remaining vacant development parcels.
Fisher Island Is Not Its Own City
One thing Fisher Island is not is a municipality. It is an unincorporated census-designated place within Miami-Dade County, with no mayor, no city council, and no municipal code of its own. The county handles law enforcement jurisdiction, building permitting, zoning, and property tax assessment. Everything else, including road maintenance, ferry operations, security, and landscaping standards, falls to the community association under Florida’s homeowners association statute.1Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 720 – Homeowners’ Associations The result is a place where private ownership and private governance fill nearly every gap a city government would normally occupy.