Understanding branded residences and how they fuse luxury lifestyles with celebrity appeal and prestige companies is more than an industry skill. The developers who create the biggest and brightest branded residences become recognizable names by building the most glamorous high-rise homes around the globe.
Gil Dezer and Michael Stern are known for their ambitious luxury high-rise residences. Dezer is the president of Dezer Development, and Stern is the founder and CEO of JDS Development Group. The duo spoke at Elevate, an exclusive event held in Miami on December 4-6. The gathering featured the biggest names in the luxury high-rise space, discussing the market, amenities, luxury architecture, and much more. Dezer and Stern’s panel was moderated by Robin Dolch, the founder and president of Hundred Stories.
Immersing residents into a branded lifestyle
Dezer partnered with luxury car maker Bentley in 2021 to create Bentley Residences, a 60-plus story tower in Sunny Isles beach. To Dezer, ensuring the seamless branding flow throughout his residences is critical.
“For those who own a Bentley, there’s this little diamond logo that appears when you touch the radio knob or the door handle,” Dezer said. “We put that diamond logo all the way through the tower on anything you might touch.”
Stern is responsible for the coming Dolce and Gabbana branded residence in the Brickell neighborhood of Miami. Plans for the 90-story building include 115,000 square feet of amenities across eight floors, including restaurants, bars, a pool deck, an indoor paddle court, and a boxing gym.
“Our take on what we’re doing with Dolce and Gabbana is how you immerse yourself into the world of the fashion brand, which touches almost every facet of life,“ Stern said. “So, if you look at what Dolce and Gabbana is, they do everything from haute couture to sunglasses, fragrances, furniture, eyewear, china … it runs the gamut.”
“So really, from the minute you get up to everything you interact with and touch, you’re going to immerse yourself in their world. That’s a very interesting proposition to us. We have everything, including an incredible on-site tailor. Something else we’re doing is selling fully furnished residences, down to the dishes in the cupboard, which are branded with Dolce and Gabbana patterns.”
But why did fashion and car brands come to mesh with luxury residences? “When it comes to these brands — they talk to guys like us because they want to incorporate their lifestyle at the day-to-day level,” Dezer said.
“I remember when we first met with Bentley, they were adamant that when a resident left their car, the music playing in the car would then be playing in the apartment. It should be a continuation and a seamless integration to showcase the Bentley lifestyle.”
