Nearly a decade ago, Argentinian grocery store mogul German Coto unveiled the multimillion-dollar sales center for his family’s Aston Martin Residences condo tower in downtown Miami showcasing bespoke details like a custom-made carbon fiber desk, leather door handles designed by the British automaker, and pricey Eames chairs.
Oh, and a $2.5 million Aston Martin Vulcan, one of just two dozen in the world.
The sales center was meant to give buyers an idea of what the finished product would look and feel like. Buyers bought the promises made by Coto’s development firm for the first Aston Martin-branded building in the world — and the Coto family’s first luxury condo tower in the United States. (In Argentina, the family produces and exports agricultural, cattle, pork and poultry products, in addition to running their large supermarket chain.)
It seemed like a perfect formula. Teaming up with a luxury brand lends credibility to the developer building the project. And where else would be better than Miami, home to the first Porsche Design tower, and the in-progress Pagani, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz branded condo buildings (all firsts)?
Aston Martin, it turned out, may be a prime example of what happens when a developer doesn’t deliver on what was promised, using a brand never tested on residential living. Two years after the condo building was completed, a myriad of alleged defects threaten its reputation and performance on the resale and rental markets, a problem not just for brands but for owners.
“If you’re just using the brand for brand recognition and slapping the logo on the building and expect it to do the job for you, then it usually falls short,” said developer and broker Edgardo Defortuna, whose portfolio includes branded and non-branded projects.
The jeopardy is heightened because brands are increasingly making their first residential forays in South Florida, the branded capital of the Western Hemisphere (Dubai is considered No. 1 in the world). Many established brands already have residential partners.
New such projects include Elle Residences in Edgewater, Palm Tree Residences Miami and the Frida Kahlo Wynwood Residences. (Kahlo entered the public domain in 2025, which may explain why the late artist and her work are branding a new development.) Anantara Hotels & Resorts, which was featured on the third season of the HBO Max show “White Lotus,” will brand a tower in Edgewater.
Whether they and others will succeed depends on supply and demand dynamics, the developer’s track record and the brand’s identity and messaging. It has to be clear from the get-go what the brand is offering.
“In the last 10 years, Miami has changed a lot. The condo product has changed dramatically,” said Diego Bonet, who is co-developing the Surf Row Residences in Surfside. After a decade of branded projects, Miami is saturated.
He can see one way out. “Now you differentiate your product by not having a brand,” he said.
Courtroom dramas
Aston Martin Residences, the 66-story glassy sail-shaped tower built at the mouth of the Miami River, was finished years after its expected completion date and failed to live up to plans, lawsuits suggest. Buyers weren’t just disappointed once they closed on their units. They were furious.
“Unit owners purchased their residences relying on promises of luxurious amenities — including a marina, a helipad and exclusive beach club privileges,” a lawsuit filed against the developer and construction team claims. “These amenities were never delivered.”
In that lawsuit, the owner-controlled condo association sued the developer, general contractor and over a dozen other companies over alleged construction defects: improperly sloped balconies, concrete cracking and spalling, unsealed holes, exposed reinforcement bars and issues with systems that include the waterproofing and fire protection.
A spokesperson for the developer of Aston Martin Residences previously told The Real Deal that it “partnered with the industry’s most experienced suppliers” and that the allegations are “unfounded.”
The association also alleged Coto ran “an immense shell game” via condo association contracts to vendors with close ties to him, siphoning millions of dollars from condo owners before turning control over to the owners, according to an earlier lawsuit against the developer and others.
“If you’re just using the brand for brand recognition and slapping the logo on the building and expect it to do the job for you, then it usually falls short.”
Another luxury car-branded development, the Mercedes-Benz Places, is stalled, as the developer, an affiliate of Michael Stern’s JDS Development Group, fights foreclosure of the project. The developer has been trying to secure a construction loan for at least a year, and secured repeated extensions on its bridge debt with its former lender.
The developer, in its countersuit, accused lender Cottonwood Management of using confidential information meant for a construction loan to instead buy the note from the previous lender.
Regardless of who wins, the noise surrounding the project is doing more harm than good. Following news of the foreclosure filing by Cottonwood Management, about 10 percent of buyers at the nearly 800-unit development are looking to pull out, according to the developer’s countersuit.
The headlines have led today’s buyers to ask more questions before they buy branded.
“Both the buyer and the broker are becoming a lot more informed and a lot smarter,” Defortuna said about the market. “Is that dream executable? Are the people behind that capable of delivering this building as they promised? If you move it forward, once they deliver, is the lifestyle being promised able to deliver? Then, of course, it feels a lot better for the buyer to pull the trigger, even before the shovel hits the ground.”
Not all brands are created equal
Some brands almost sell themselves. “The Mandarin [on Brickell Key] is killing it, the Rosewood, St. Regis, Four Seasons too. These are the brands people go, ‘Oh, oh’ for,” said real estate agent Ivan Chorney of the Ivan & Mike Team at Compass.
Collaborating with a brand can boost values by as much as 30 percent. Developers typically sign long-term contracts with brands for licensing fees and, in some cases, management deals. The condo owners shoulder the cost once they take control of their associations.
The overabundance of branded towers means that some non-branded buildings are starting to stand out.
These include the Residences at 1428 Brickell, a 70-story luxury condo tower under construction. Developer Yamal Yidios of Ytech launched the project, sans brand, with a bang in 2022. It could mark the first high-rise residential building in the world that will be partially powered by solar, and it will be heavy on the amenities: the 80,000-plus square feet will include three pools, a 10,000-square-foot fitness center, a two-story wine and art lounge, a spa with aquatic therapy, office suites and guest residences.
Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, managing partner at Cervera Real Estate, whose brokerage firm represents branded and non-branded projects, including 1428 Brickell, compared buyers there to buyers who wear couture.
“A lot of it has to do with the psychology of the buyer. It’s almost like the way people dress,” Lamadrid said. “Sometimes you see someone wearing 14 labels and you can see them a mile away.”
Still, Lamadrid said the branded market remains very strong.
“Some brands are getting saturated in some areas, some neighborhoods,” she said. “The challenge is to find a brand that delivers and that is more than just a sticker.”
Surf Row, Bonet’s non-branded project, is nearly 50 percent presold. The 24-unit development, which does not front the water, is selling for more than $2,000 a foot, according to Bonet, managing partner of LD&D. The firm is co-developing the project with One Capital.
“Instead of spending marketing dollars on partnering up with a brand, we spend the dollars on creating an overall better product,” Bonet said.
Many brands, most of which are hospitality-based, are commanding higher prices and will continue to, brokers and developers say.
That’s true at the Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami, where Swire Properties locked in two nearly $50 million contracts for penthouses before the developer has even broken ground on the project. The two deals will likely set records for the city of Miami at about $6,300 per square foot once the project is completed in 2030.
Swire Properties’ Dave Martin said the two contracts, signed in February and March, send a “strong signal to the market.”
The pending deals also reinforce which brands perform best: hospitality brands that understand what people want in a living space.
The Four Seasons at the Surf Club is maybe the clearest example. The developer, Fort Partners, led by Nadim Ashi, has capitalized on the record pricing at the Surfside complex: a penthouse at the oceanfront development resold for nearly $8,000 per square foot. Ashi’s successful partnership with the brand has trickled down into more projects, including those adjacent to the Surf Club, as well as a Four Seasons condo planned in Coconut Grove with co-developer Ugo Colombo.
“It’s not just the Four Seasons” that made Fort Partners’ project successful, Bonet said. “It’s the location, it’s the design, it’s the restaurants. There are brands that create long-lasting value and brands that can’t.”
The fatigue surrounding the latter is setting in. Some of the brands now attached to Miami condo towers have prompted raised eyebrows and become the butt of jokes among developers and agents selling new developments.
Even public relations firms who represent branded developments are feeling it.
“Miami’s luxury market is beginning to feel less like a real estate market and more like a licensing convention,” reads one pitch sent to TRD.
Cervera’s Lamadrid believes all developers are having the conversation: Will they or won’t they partner with a brand? But the quality of the construction, finishes, amenities and the price is what wins over buyers.
“From a marketing perspective, it’s easier with a brand … to get people to answer the phone,” she said. “But once on the phone … it’s all about the value proposition.”