For real estate developers who sponsored Art Basel events, the art doesn’t stop after Basel ends.

Rendering courtesy of Park Grove

According to Architectural Digest (AD), art is a leading amenity for agents and developers, with one of the publications deeming it “marketing gold.” AD cites Miami’s forthcoming Park Grove property as a prime example of art-driven real estate sales. Despite killer views and a Pritzker Prize-winning architect at the helm (OMA/Rem Koolhaas), Park Grove’s developers, Terra Group and Related Group, are banking on art to sell its pricey pads, which range from $1.95 million to $14 million.

Per AD, Terra and Related paid $1 million for a large, three-part sculpture piece from Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. Called “The Poets in Bordeaux (Body Soul God, Country Water Fire),” the colorful and contemporary resin-based sculpture now has a home at Park Grove. Planned curator talks and rotating exhibitions at the space extend the art-centric feel designed to attract buyers. If Park Grove residents aren’t ready to hang their own works just yet, the building will also feature on-site, climate-controlled art storage. If they’re dipping their toes into becoming a collector, they can join the building’s art club. 

With public art readily available in Miami — think Wynwood Walls or Perez Art Museum Miami’s free second Saturday initiative — the art world is no longer exclusionary. The Design District has doubled in size since last year, perhaps offering insight into Miamians taste for art and design. Would-be luxury buyers of all backgrounds see art as an important facet and sign of quality.

Rendering courtesy of Ritz-Carlton Residences

The Ritz-Carlton Residences has incorporated art into its walls from the moment residents step into the lobby, where a custom, $500,000 staircase features works from artists around the globe. And it’s not limited to fine arts, either. Other new luxury towers are incorporating applied arts: Renzo Piano’s Eighty Seven Park residences will include uniforms from designer Isabel Toledo. Custom Italian cabinetry adorns the kitchens in Adagio Fort Lauderdale Beach.

The optimist may see all this as an opportunity to highlight artists and foster a love of the arts in residents. On the flip side, an attentiveness to art may just be the latest ploy to differentiate buildings in an oversaturated condominium market —an attempt to stoke sluggish sales amid a condo glut. But if that’s the case, art’s intangible benefits have some stiff competition.

Lavish, outlandish amenities are plentiful at luxury condo towers. Residents can skip traffic and land on the helipad at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, and car elevators are exactly what they sound like at the Porsche Design Tower.

Ice skating rinks, bowling alleys, and spas are all competing against artwork, too, but that hasn’t stopped developers — Related Group, for example, has two full-time curators on staff to select art for their properties like Park Grove and equally art-centric Paraiso District, an upscale condo development slated to open next month.