PMG and Lndmrk Development are launching a Frida Kahlo-branded short-term rental-friendly condominium in Miami’s Wynwood, their latest partnership in the neighborhood.
The likeness of the famed Mexican communist will decorate one of the luxury project’s facades, renderings show. The developers are planning the 244-unit Frida Kahlo Wynwood Residences for the 1-acre site at 119 Northwest 29th Street, which they bought for $20 million in 2023, according to property records.
They tapped Uruguayan-Canadian architect Carlos Ott, Cube 3, and Cotofana Designs to design the complex, according to a news release. It will span two buildings, with an eight-story north tower and a 14-story south tower, a spokesperson confirmed. Units will range from studios to three-bedrooms and come fully furnished.
The condo’s amenities will include a rooftop pool, a fitness center, spa facilities and a lobby lounge, the release shows. Prices for the units start at $500,000 and range up to $1.6 million, the spokesperson confirmed. PMG will lead sales in-house for the project.
The developers are also partnering with Baker Health, a New York-based concierge medicine service, to open its first Florida location on the ground floor of the project. Residents will receive a free membership to the service for one year, the release shows.
The late Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous women artists in the world, and her paintings are among the most valuable. Her 1940 painting “El sueño (La cama)” sold for a record $55 million at Sotheby’s in November, making it the most expensive piece ever sold at auction by a woman artist. The record for men is held by Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” which sold for $450.3 million in 2017.
While the November auction sale was notable for its price, it was also remarkable as Kahlo’s paintings are rarely available for purchase.
Her husband, Diego Rivera, bequeathed the couple’s works to the people of Mexico, and the Bank of Mexico owns and manages their trust and estate.
That her name and likeness can be licensed for condo branding purposes is the result of her niece Isolda Pineda Kahlo’s 2004 partnership with ItalBank president Carlos Dorado. The pair created the Frida Kahlo Corporation and trademarked the artist’s name, face and signature.
Since Pineda Kahlo’s death in 2007, the corporation has come into conflict with her daughter, who sued in 2019 over the creation of a Frida Kahlo Barbie.
The branding agreement between the Frida Kahlo Corporation, PMG and Lndmrk is an example of one of South Florida’s busiest new development categories: branded residences.
Thousands of units are planned or in development across the region bearing familiar logos from fashion houses, hospitality empires, hypercar makers, restaurant groups and magazines. Developers see brands as a way to signal expectations of prestige and hospitality service to buyers, and a way to differentiate projects in a crowded marketplace.
That said, industry leaders have also advised caution on brand selection.
“Not all brands are created equal,” Cervera Real Estate’s Alicia Cervera Lamadrid said at The Real Deal’s 2024 Miami Forum.
PMG and Lndmrk opted out of branding for their other Wynwood condo project. Miami-based PMG, led by Ryan Shear, Dan Kaplan and Kevin Maloney, and Alex Karakhanian’s Miami-based Lndmrk launched sales for the 233-unit short-term rental-friendly Twenty Sixth & 2nd Wynwood Residences in April, with prices for studios starting at $500,000.
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