High-End Living in Miami With Fashion and Fast Cars
A slowing market in Florida tests the draw of Aston Martin, Porsche, Armani and luxury brands that license their names to real-estate developers, as research suggests ‘designer properties’ don’t command a premium
Argentinian real-estate developer Juan Pablo Verdiquio is a self-confessed “car guy.” He owns a Porsche and several Ferrari and Audi sports cars. In 2015 he paid almost $4.2 million to buy a slightly different model of Porsche: a three-bedroom condo in Miami’s Porsche Design Tower.
Mr. Verdiquio’s decision had nothing to do with his need for speedsters. Rather, he said he thinks the Porsche brand could help ensure that his condominium maintains its value, even if the Miami market, known for its dramatic ups and downs, gets choppy.
“Buying into a brand that’s been around for 100 years? I’d take that bet any day. It’s like buying into Coca-Cola , ” said Mr. Verdiquio, 41.
In the Miami area alone, Porsche, Armani, Fendi and Missoni have loaned their names to luxury condo projects over the past few years. And currently under construction on Biscayne Boulevard Way is an Aston Martin-branded 66-story condo, where units are expected to start at roughly $700,000 and go up to around $50 million for the penthouse, according to an Aston Martin spokesman. Miami’s flattening luxury real-estate market will test the power of these luxury brands to persuade buyers—many of them international—to pay top dollar for a home.
