Art and Real Estate Tango in Miami - NYTimes.com: " . . . Many critics have piled on Art Basel about letting conspicuous consumption overshadow the art. Whether it was Cartier or Moët, everybody seemed to be selling something at Art Basel. Many companies held their own parties or dinners to draw in the well-heeled crowds, who were already splintered by the ever-expanding number of competing art shows. Real estate firms also made their presence known, with ONE Sotheby’s International Realty partnering with the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation for a brunch at a gallery. And now the branding and artist name-dropping are becoming popular marketing tactics among developers as the real estate boom picks up steam in South Florida, giving rise to a phenomenon best described as conspicuous construction. . . . The industry was buzzing at Basel about the Argentine developer Alan Faena’s beachfront hotel renovation and condo project, featuring the work of the architects Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas. And about Ian Schrager’s Residences at the Miami Beach Edition, being built with Marriott at the former Seville Hotel at 25th Street and Collins. Mr. Schrager said prices for 26 condo residences would average about $3,000 a square foot, which would be a record for a new development in Miami. That Mr. Schrager would even dare to charge New York prices here shows the strength of demand in recent months for trophy-quality residences. Hoping to attract the type of buyer who comes to Art Basel to drop millions on a few paintings, developers are pushing the connection to art in their buildings. . . . Of course, the mad rush to buy high-priced apartments that are still in the planning stages could also have a lot to do with the fact that there is little new development along the beach. And what exists often fails to meet the discriminating standards of wealthy sophisticates. Mr. Schrager, the hotelier who conceived the Delano in Miami — as well as the Mondrian in Los Angeles, the Gramercy Park in New York and the Public in Chicago — said he came to Miami in 2009 and 2010 trying “to steal” an apartment for himself during the financial crisis. But he couldn’t find anything he liked. “They had views, obviously,” he said, “but the lobbies were too tacky.” So . . . he set about designing something “more sophisticated, more stylish.” The result will be Miami Edition, an attempt to continue the “effortless living” theme he developed at 50 Gramercy Park North. . . ."
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