St. Regis does not put its name on many buildings. Neither does Armani. When a brand of that weight agrees to sit on a residential tower, it is lending out the one thing it cannot replace — and it does not do that on a handshake. The list of brands that have said yes to Related Group is, read properly, a list of decisions other people made after looking very closely.
Key Takeaways
- —Related Group has developed residences with St. Regis, Armani/Casa, Baccarat, SLS, W, Auberge, and — in Mexico — Thompson and Viceroy
- —A brand of that calibre performs its own due diligence on the developer before attaching its name
- —Each partnership is therefore an independent verdict, reached by a party with its own reputation at stake
- —Related also builds unbranded towers — One Park Grove, Apogee — which is how you know the brand is not doing the heavy lifting
- —In Mexico the roster narrows to two operators, chosen to fit the character of each location
The roster
Over the years Related Group has developed residences carrying some of the most carefully guarded names in the world — most alongside a development partner, which is how buildings of this size get built:
- —The St. Regis Residences, Miami — fifty storeys on Brickell Avenue, and the name least inclined to lend itself out
- —Residences by Armani/Casa, Sunny Isles Beach — the fashion house translating its own interiors into a sixty-storey Cesar Pelli tower
- —Baccarat Residences, Miami — the crystal maison, seventy-five storeys on Brickell
- —SLS Lux Brickell and the W Miami at Icon Brickell — the design-forward hospitality end of the range
- —NoMad Residences, Wynwood, and Auberge Beach Residences on the Fort Lauderdale sand
- —Thompson and Viceroy — the two operators Related brought to Mexico
Why a brand says yes
A hospitality or fashion house licensing its name to a residential development is exposing decades of brand equity to somebody else's construction schedule. If the building arrives late, or arrives wrong, the name on the door takes the damage. So before signing, they examine the developer's finances, their delivery history, and their capacity to finish. The partnership is only granted after that examination clears. You are reading the result of due diligence you did not have to commission.
The towers with no brand on them
It is worth noticing what Related builds when nobody else's name is involved. One Park Grove in Coconut Grove. Apogee on Fisher Island. Both sit at the very top of their market without a hospitality brand anywhere near them. A developer who can do that is not using co-branding as a crutch — which is precisely why the brands are comfortable being there.
In Mexico, two names
For the Mexican portfolio the roster narrows deliberately. Thompson — the Hyatt brand built around local creative culture, lobbies that work as gathering places, restaurants with real chefs — takes the urban tower on Paseo de la Reforma and the beachfront tower on Banderas Bay. Viceroy takes Playa del Carmen, where the brief is quieter: six storeys, greenery, a sculpture garden, a beach club for residents. Two operators, matched to two very different ideas of a day.
Which operator suits the way you actually intend to use a residence is a real question, and one worth asking out loud. It is among the first things we walk through with you.