Art Basel Miami Beach is one of the top art fairs of the year, attracting the wealthiest buyers, well-known curators, most in-demand galleries and more. It can be a bonanza for brokers and developers looking to take advantage during the week of festivities.
Even though fewer brokerages are sponsoring fairs this year, the approach is the same. Brokers and development firms are still taking the opportunity to remind clients that they need homes to hold their artwork, and are hosting private events, panel talks, exhibits and more. Some developers are simply announcing their projects or revealing plans to include significant artwork in their planned residential buildings.
Others are unveiling new concepts like private clubs, or showcasing new public art installations in neighborhoods like Miami’s Wynwood and the Miami Design District.
Sotheby’s International Realty is sponsoring Art Basel Miami Beach for the second year in a row, after Douglas Elliman held the sponsorship for nine years.
Mayi de la Vega, founder and CEO of Miami-based One Sotheby’s, said the firm has activities planned in addition to showcasing its properties and agents at Art Basel’s Collectors’ Lounge.
“We see this as an incredible opportunity to host other agents from our network,” she said.
The company is hosting a VIP art gallery on Tuesday night at its Miami Beach office, which will be open every day, offering agents and clients coffee drinks, champagne and more. One Sotheby’s will also have a panel discussion and pop-up art exhibit on Friday evening and a brunch on Saturday at Villa Azur in Miami Beach. The brokerage is also spending money on digital marketing to reach the right audience.
“Everyone knows the influence and the level of the people that attend Art Basel,” de la Vega said. “It creates revenue, excitement and an opportunity to showcase our best properties.”
Curated experiences
In a sea of hundreds of events, fairs and pop-up art lounges, brokers and firms are trying to capture their share of the market.
Arushi Kapoor co-founded the Agency Art House, an art advisory service, with Mauricio Umansky, CEO of the Beverly Hills-based brokerage. They launched the venture last month, and Art Basel Miami Beach is their second big unveiling after a party in Los Angeles. Kapoor is working with Agency clients to help build their art collections as alternative assets, across a wide range of prices.
Kapoor and Umansky will be hosting personalized art tours with clients, and will hold a panel discussion at Untitled Art Fair on the sand in Miami Beach on Friday. They’ll discuss the merger of art and real estate.
“The clients are very similar. When you buy a house, there are walls, and when there are walls, they need art,” Kapoor said. “Art increases the value of the house.”
Kapoor created a guide to Art Basel that includes can’t-miss artworks, restaurants, parties, hotels and other experiences.
Many agents are also playing concierge to their well-heeled clients who are in town this week.
Corcoran Group agents Eloy Carmenate and Mick Duchon spent Sunday evening at a yacht party with clients who flew in from Italy, Carmenate said. He’s also planned dinners with clients and will be attending exhibits and fairs with buyers.
Like others attending this week, Carmenate is also working on a spreadsheet of the best parties and art fairs to attend with his clients. Most buyers are not signing contracts to purchase homes and condos during Miami Art Week, but they’ll return, agents say.
“They don’t buy real estate during Art Week. They usually buy after. Everything we do is sort of PR right now,” Carmenate said. “I used to do a bunch of art shows. We sold art, but it really took my focus away from real estate. This is more effective.”
New development marketing
The developers of Ritz-Carlton Residences, South Beach kicked off the week with the unveiling of an art installation created by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya that was installed in the lobby of the beachfront hotel. The Ben Josef, Kanavos and Lowenstein families plan a 15-story, 30-unit condo project behind their Sagamore Hotel South Beach at 1617 Collins Avenue and cantilevered over the existing Ritz-Carlton, South Beach cabana building at 1 Lincoln Road.
Developer Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos of Flag Luxury, Fredrik Eklund of Douglas Elliman’s Eklund-Gomes team, architect Kobi Karp, interior designer Alessandro Munge and Phingbodhipakkiya attended the unveiling and private dinner by chef and restaurateur José Andrés on Monday evening.
Eklund said at the event that the sales center for the project is expected to be completed in about two weeks. Unit prices range from $4 million to $125 million.
Nearby, developer Michael Shvo is hosting a private dinner for VIPs and buyers this week, according to a spokesperson for the planned Rosewood Residences at the Raleigh.
Shvo is working with Deutsche Finance on redeveloping the Raleigh, South Seas and Richmond hotels along the oceanfront at 1751, 1757 and 1775 Collins Avenue into a 60-key hotel and a new 17-story, 44-unit condo tower.
Edgardo Defortuna, president and CEO of Fortune International Group, recently launched the planned Faena Residences along the Miami River with co-developer KAR Properties. Defortuna said the partnership with Faena is “in full blast,” with events and private dinners planned this week at Faena Miami Beach.
His company is hosting a series of events at its other projects, as well, including an art and cocktail hour with Maison Kaleidoscope at the sales center for the St. Regis Residences in Sunny Isles Beach, which Fortune is co-developing with the Château Group. Fortune and Casa Tua’s planned Ora by Casa Tua tower and the Faena Miami River development are also sponsoring an ArtNexus event at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island on Thursday.
Bay Harbor Towers, an Ari Peal development in Bay Harbor Islands that Fortune is selling, is hosting an exhibit with Mexican-American artist Ivonne Torres on Tuesday evening. Fortune and Swire Properties will also host an event at the sales center for the Mandarin Oriental Residences on Brickell Key in Miami with Luster Magazine on Wednesday.
“A lot of it is name recognition, and a lot of it is networking and [maintaining] relationships with key people,” Defortuna said. “It’s the same type of customers we market and sell our projects to.”
Condo developer and art collector Jorge Pérez, founder and CEO of Miami-based Related Group, unveiled a new exhibit at his private collection in Miami’s Allapattah. The exhibit is called “Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection” and it features artwork from more than 120 artists.
Developers are also using the momentum from Miami Art Week to unveil plans for their projects. In Coral Gables, Alta Developers announced it will feature a tree sculpture at Cassia, a planned 174-unit condo building at 4011 Salzedo Street near the Shops at Merrick Park. The art piece is called Reconstructed Natures: Suple Tree Sculpture, a work by gt2P. Alta tapped Cervera Real Estate to lead sales of the short-term rental-friendly condo project earlier this year. Prices start at $700,000.
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Even projects that are outside South Florida are taking advantage of the buyers in town. Developers Juniper Capital and Capital United unveiled plans for a luxury Auberge-branded residential project in Puerto Rico, called Moncayo.
They’re sponsoring a lounge at NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) Miami focused on Puerto Rican art, culture and music. The developers of the 1,100-acre community are looking to appeal to the same buyers who are considering relocating to South Florida, a spokesperson said.