Casa Tua’s Miky Grendene on Hospitality Branded Developments
Miami is loud, and Miami is proud of being loud. But Miky Grendene envisions a different kind of city.
Grendene is the co-founder of Casa Tua, a hospitality company with a restaurant and private club in Miami Beach that’s become a favorite haunt of the real estate crowd. The spot’s understated aesthetic, a throwback to his native Italy’s “la dolce vita” days, is something Grendene now wants to bring to his adopted city’s condo scene. Casa Tua is partnering with developer Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group on a 70-story, 460-unit condo project in Brickell, the first signature residential project for the hospitality firm.
The project, dubbed Ora by Casa Tua, will join the ranks of branded towers on the Miami skyline, including Porsche Design Tower, Residences by Armani/Casa and Bentley Residences in Sunny Isles Beach. Grendene thinks that amid all that glitz and glamour, simplicity is the way to stand out to buyers.
“When I created Casa Tua, the thing that I wanted most was to create a place with a soul — the ideal house that everybody would like to have to entertain their guests and friends,” he said in an interview with The Real Deal’s Hiten Samtani. “So, when Edgardo asked me about this project, the challenge was to basically apply the same philosophy to a big residential building.”
Grendene went into more detail about the project, set to rise at 1210 Brickell Avenue, and also spoke about his decision to sell a stake in his company to businessman Martin Franklin.
