An enormous, 50-foot-wide rotating bookshelf installed on the sand in front of the Faena District has become a focal point during Miami Art Week—an apt setting for a neighborhood known for blending high-end real estate with the art scene since opening a decade ago.
The piece, titled The Library of Us by Es Devlin, is positioned in a circular pool designed to encourage visitors to pause and take it in. The installation not only highlights the surrounding development but also draws attention to Miami Beach’s perennial allure: its coastline.
Throughout Miami and Miami Beach, developers and brokerages are leveraging the surge of Art Week visitors by hosting special events, sponsoring exhibitions, and welcoming guests to open houses. Many firms and agents have created their own guides for the week, which features major art fairs like Art Basel, Art Miami, and many others.
Art Week signals the official launch of Miami’s busy season, though real estate activity began ramping up weeks earlier this year.
While brokerages are sponsoring fewer large art fairs compared to previous years, their presence remains strong. Sotheby’s International Realty serves as a show partner at Art Basel. Miami-based One Sotheby’s International Realty is the real estate sponsor for the collectors’ lounge at the Miami Beach fair.
Additionally, One Sotheby’s has joined with the Bonnier Gallery in Miami Beach to present an art exhibit featuring works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem De Kooning, and Andy Warhol, according to One Sotheby’s president Daniel de la Vega.
“This is one of the most important weeks in Miami,” de la Vega said. “It’s not just about making sales during Art Basel, but about the way visitors experience and begin to appreciate our lifestyle.”
Here’s an overview of some of this week’s highlights:
Listings and new developments
Mick Duchon of the Corcoran Group and Dustin Nero of Douglas Elliman are debuting a listing at the Four Seasons Residences at the Surf Club to coincide with Art Week. Priced at $22.8 million ($4,916 per square foot), the residence comes with a multimillion-dollar art collection that includes pieces exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., and the Pérez Art Museum Miami. Interior designer Deborah Wecselman oversaw the renovation of this 4,640-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bathroom home in the Surf Club’s south tower at 9001 Collins Avenue in Surfside. The collection features works by Michael Dweck, Cey Adams, and photographer David Burdeny.
The team behind the upcoming Elle Residences Miami condo tower—Vertical Developments and UNCG—has opened an exhibit by artist Daniel Orozco at the project’s sales center at 600 Northeast 36th Street in Edgewater. A private event with Orozco is planned this week to discuss his sculpture partnership with Elle.
North Development, a joint venture between Ricardo Dunin’s Oak Capital and Juan Carlos Tassara’s Edifica, has commissioned Miami-based artists Jonathan Gonzalez, Francisco Lo Castro, Regina Durante Jestrow, and Johnny Robles to create artwork for Domus Brickell Park, a short-term rental-friendly development planned for 1611 Southwest Second Avenue in Miami.
Naftali Group has enlisted Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn to craft a sculpture for JEM Private Residences, an apartment and condominium tower under construction at Miami Worldcenter.
Carlos Rosso’s Rosso Development, Proper Hospitality, and Alex Vadia’s Midtown Development are installing two Hernán Marina sculptures outside the sales gallery at Midtown Park Residences by Proper. These works will serve as public art for the planned 28-story, 288-unit condo tower in Midtown Miami.
Grupo T&C, led by William Ticona and the developer of the upcoming Edge House Miami short-term rental-friendly condo in Edgewater, has debuted an exhibit featuring works by Colombian sculptor Veronica Matiz.
Beyond these announcements, new installations and murals have been appearing in neighborhoods like Wynwood and the Miami Design District, while a host of private parties and events are fueling lively discussions among real estate professionals—often a sign of heightened activity during Art Week.
“Many agents are sharing what listings they have and fielding requests,” de la Vega of One Sotheby’s noted about the group chats among brokers and developers.
One recent request in these conversations stood out: a buyer seeking to spend $100 million on a waterfront property along the open bay, anywhere between Coral Gables and Miami Beach.
