Lessons from the Ultra Luxury Real Estate Market
Bloomberg ran a story earlier this week on Bruce Makowsky, luxury bag maker turned ultra-real estate developer, who is building $100m houses in Beverly Hills. What’s important here for the art market isn’t the real estate, the taste or the money. It’s the fact that the wealthiest are willing to buy pre-packaged luxury. Something similar was seen in the aftermath of the bidding for the Francis Bacon triptych featuring Lucien Freud where underbidders and auction house personnel alike remarked upon the appeal of a work that ticked obvious boxes....MORE
Also, there’s the simple appetite for homes and the need to furnish them with status objects:
“There was a void of homes for super-wealthy people, and that’s why I did it,” Makowsky said while sitting near a curved 54-foot (16-meter) glass wall that slides open to an infinity pool with iPad-controlled fountains. “I don’t think there’s anybody who’s served up $85 million-to-$100 million homes at this level for somebody to step into and buy.”
