Miami Real Estate Industry Courts Art Week Attendees

It’s that time of year: Developers and brokers throughout the Miami area are once again tapping into the art world in the hopes that wealthy buyers will open up their wallets to purchase real estate.

The Related Group, Dezer Development, Douglas Elliman, One Sotheby’s International Realty, and projects like Miami Worldcenter and Standard Residences are hosting events during Miami Art Week, which is anchored by Art Basel Miami Beach and Art Miami fairs. Though the fairs open to the public on Wednesday or Thursday, dozens of parties and offshoot events began on Monday.

The goal for most real estate firms is to expose the wealthy art aficionados to projects and properties, and follow up with potential buyers later.

“It’s the right time to be out there. A lot of our brokers and buyers follow the art scene,” said developer Carlos Rosso. “We normally see a slowdown during this month, but in January when people come back we want them to remember our events.”

Major real estate players, who happen to be art enthusiasts, are also hosting events that aren’t real estate related. Downtown Miami and Wynwood landowner Moishe Mana will have his annual birthday bash at the former RC Cola Plant in Wynwood, on Wednesday from 9 p.m. until “late,” according to the invite.

And Related Group CEO Jorge Pérez, an art collector who has long incorporated art into his projects and is the namesake of Pérez Art Museum Miami, is hosting buyers and brokers at El Espacio 23, Pérez’s personal art gallery in Allapattah, this week at a series of daily events for contract holders.

“We rarely see sales happen this week, but the follow-up is extremely strong,” said Nick Pérez, senior vice president at Related. The firm is also hosting events showcasing artwork at its projects’ sales centers, including at Casa Bella by B&B Italia in Miami’s Arts & Entertainment District.

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Rosso’s Rosso Development is sponsoring Pinta Miami in Coconut Grove, which primarily focuses on Latin American collectors, a buyer pool Rosso is targeting. Rosso’s two projects — the planned Standard Residences project in Midtown Miami he’s co-developing with Alex Vadia’s Midtown Development, and One Park Tower at SoLé Mia he’s co-developing with Turnberry Associates — will be on display.

The Standard project is also hosting One World Show with Art 4 Humanity and the French fashion brand Vionnet that will showcase photography by young women refugees in Greece.

New York-based Elliman is an Art Basel Miami Beach sponsor for the ninth year at the Miami Beach Convention Center, where it has a lounge that will showcase new projects in South Florida, California, Texas and Paris, including the Standard project. Elliman is also releasing the Elliman Magazine art issue. Elliman and Lionheart Capital will also have a “meet the artists” cocktail party at Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach with Burgess Modern + Contemporary.

Some agents are hosting private events. One Sotheby’s International Realty agent Elena Bluntzer, along with Pablo Atchugarry’s art gallery, will have a private afternoon event Wednesday at Villa Positano, a waterfront estate at 3080 Munroe Drive in Coconut Grove. The home is on the market for $48 million. In Wynwood, One Sotheby’s agents Michael Martinez and Kiki Rutten will have a secret metaverse home event for their listing, which includes an NFT version of the spec mansion.

“Once you have a very high-end, captured audience like you do, then exposing them to the different developments or properties you’re selling is a no-brainer,” said Daniel de la Vega, president of One Sotheby’s. “For the most part, it’s about exposure.”

The Miami-based brokerage is taking more than 50 agents from other Sotheby’s affiliates who are in town on a property tour of One Sotheby’s new developments in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, de la Vega added.

The sales center for Gil Dezer’s planned Bentley Residences condo tower in Sunny Isles Beach will host an invitation-only ArtNexus 20th Anniversary Party and private brunch for VIP Art Basel attendees. Bentley Residences will also have an installation at a Bentley event this weekend at the Temple House in South Beach, Dezer said.

The Bentley Residences project is more than 40 percent presold, Dezer said. Remaining units start at $5.5 million fronting the Intracoastal Waterway, and at $7.4 million for oceanfront units.

For Dezer and other developers, it’s all about getting in front of the right type of buyer.

“Bentley has the right list of customers to invite,” he said. “It’s product positioning.”