It’s been another blow out year for luxury branded real estate.

Fueled by stocks that keep beating their own peaks and a real estate industry that’s still finding its new normal post-pandemic, the bull market in brand name, private residences worldwide continues to outpace every other sector of residential real estate by almost every metric.

According to data from Knight Frank, a worldwide brokerage, branded residences now account for 10% of the total luxury real estate sales globally, with the Middle East (+120%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (+89%) poised to experience the sharpest growth through 2030.

Another report by London-based brokerage Savills puts the current number of completed branded residential projects at 690 in over 70 countries as of mid-last year, totaling more than 100,000 individual residences. 600 more branded schemes are in the pipeline and expected to deliver by the end of this decade, an increase of more than 150%, including 42 ultra-luxury projects in Dubai alone.

These are staggering numbers — particularly in international real estate development which innately requires risking eye-watering sums of money and managing terrifying levels of uncertainty. Not surprisingly, it seems like every other journalist right now is writing about the space (myself occasionally included). At the same time, a dizzying parade of new brands keeps angling for a way into the action.

Since their inception in the 1980s, private residences historically have been developed in partnership with high visibility, 5-star hotels, like Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Aman, or St. Regis. This makes sense. These companies have spent decades learning the intricacies and unknowns of delivering complex real estate projects in remote locations. More importantly, their day-to-day core competency is to provide unparalleled design, amenities, service, and privacy to their guests, which most branded residential buyers demand with similar intransigence.

“Branded residences within a luxury resort have been highly desirable since they were first introduced,” says Richard Maltz who, along with his partner, David Chekemian, runs F.S.R. Estates, a real estate firm that has been developing Four Seasons branded residences and other private luxury homes in St. Kitts & Nevis and on other Caribbean islands for almost two decades.

“People want the 5-star hotel lifestyle all year round. They want the amenities that only come with a luxury resort. When you look at it from an investment standpoint, a strong hospitality brand like Four Seasons is also always going to hold its value better through the downturns and increase in value over time compared with a private, standalone home no matter how many bells and whistles come with it.”

That landscape has recently been shifting, though. Soaring, sculptural, nine-figure high rises launched by non-hotel brands have been hitting the news wires at a confounding rate over the past few years, especially in epicenter cities like Miami, New York, London, and Dubai. The newcomers include fashion houses (Dulci & Gabbana, Diesel, Missoni), sports cars (Pagani, Pininfarina, Mercedes Benz), and restaurants (Nobu, Cipriani, Casa Tua). Experts predict these non-hotel branded buildings could double in the next seven years, eventually amounting to 20% of the total global private residential product stock. These are staggering numbers too, especially given the hundreds of projects by the established hotel brands that are already under construction and selling out.

Not surprisingly, a lot of bandwidth has been burned recently by brokerages and consultancies trying to unpack the factors and forces behind the current brand-centric madness. Yet, most real estate developers like Maltz and Chekemian who live in the sector will tell you that the core drivers are far simpler and more sustainable than most people imagine — which is precisely why branded residential projects are about as close to a ‘sure thing’ in the real estate business as you can get.

For starters, branded residences come with a price premium for their developers. According to Morgan’s International Realty, branded residences on average sell for 37% more than comparable non-branded product. In Dubai, units at the Bulgari Resort and Residences are currently fetching a mind-curling three times the local market average. And while ultra high-end branded product undoubtedly costs more per square foot to build because of the race to “out-amenitize” the competition, the delta between the two price averages generally translates into higher profits back into developers’ pockets.

For the buyers paying that premium, there’s a financial upside as well. Branded residences hold their value better, for longer. Luxury, high-visibility brands also attract and retain loyal followings, which benefits re-sale since it’s not difficult for brokers to gin up second and third buyers by dropping names like Four Seasons or Fendi. Most of all, ultra luxury branded residences guarantee an unwavering commitment to service, quality, and attention to detail, including amenities like full-service spas and wellness centers, in-residence dining, private butlers, personal concierges, on-call chauffeurs, “members-only” sky lounges, and turnkey managed rental programs that can help the residence pay for itself. Who wouldn’t pay a little extra for all of that?

“Buyers see branded residences as a secure investment the same way we do as developers, which is why the sector has remained stable over the past few decades despite several ups and downs in the industry,” Maltz explains about the strength of the branded residential space globally. “It’s a turnkey solution. Owners can lock the door and have proper management while they’re gone, all while providing rental revenue that typically pays for the cost and can generate a profit. The fact the branded residences keep growing at the rate they are says all you need to know about the model. It just works.”

Ultimately, all of this froth is great news for brands. It’s even better news for Four Seasons, one of the original pioneers dating back to 1985. Four Seasons currently operates 54 private residential developments in some of the world’s most coveted locations, totaling more than 5,500 individual residences, more than any other brand. That kind of growth and production over time at the ultra-luxury echelon where residences can run into the tens of millions of dollars is especially impressive, particularly for a company that also operates 130 hotels in 44 countries.

That Four Seasons placed a well-timed early bet on the branded residence concept forty years ago has never been in dispute. It’s the company’s track record and authority four decades later that make it the envy of the new entrants into the space. As luxury brands know better than anyone, the value of legacy is incalculable. So, despite the branded real estate sector’s seemingly wide-open runway for growth, Four Seasons will always have its reputation as well as its credibility to fall back on as the market begins to tighten. Brands like Diesel and Pagani will have to put a lot more foundations in the ground before they can confidently say ‘Trust Us’ when savvy buyers inevitably start asking the harder questions.

If only to maintain this competitive edge, Four Seasons’ commitment to its global private residence portfolio shows no sign of slowing down. Three-quarters of its future developments are expected to include a residential community component. That will go a long way in keeping it ahead the pack in the coming years in addition to padding an already robust revenue stream of licensing fees.

The brand’s most recent offering is called Nevis Peak Residences, which is woven into the acclaimed Four Seasons Nevis Resort on the verdant southern coast of the eponymously named island (also coincidentally the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton). Built on the last two parcels of developable land left within the 350-acre resort, Peak Residences will offer 58 sophisticated, open concept, “al fresco” villas and condominiums designed for year-round, indoor-outdoor living in one of the Caribbean’s most unspoiled hideaways that has somehow managed to stay off the radar despite a stealthy and growing population of celebrities, superyachts, and secluded, gated estates.

In contrast with the Four Seasons Villas at Pinney’s Beach just down the road, which are all detached, single family homes, the Peak Residences’ architecture is designed to evoke an intentional balance between density, privacy, context, and community.

The six low-rise buildings will offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging from 1,725 to 3,730 square feet (160 to 347 square meters), all located along the 7th and 8th fairways of the resort’s renowned Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course. Each residence will come fully furnished with Caribbean-chic interiors blending traditional island-style materials, textures, and details with floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor terraces from which residents can soak in unobstructed views of the Caribbean Sea, 3,232’ Nevis Peak, neighboring St. Kitts, and the lush, largely protected rainforest that envelopes the resort.

As with every Four Seasons residential property, the real magic of the Peak Residences is the 5-star hotel lifestyle that happens beyond residents’ four private walls. In addition to an exclusive “Residents Only” clubhouse, homeowners can indulge themselves in all of the resort’s amenities and facilities, including three oceanfront pools and lounges, four restaurants, full-service spa, beach club, a kids splash pool and play areas, and the Caribbean’s largest tennis and pickleball complex. When residents aren’t in the mood to mingle with hotel guests, Four Seasons on-site, 24/7, fastidiously trained residential team will manage each homeowner’s residential experience — like arranging for personal chefs, tee times, a sunset sail, or shopping and provisioning in advance of arrival. A dedicated Four Seasons property management team will also oversee every aspect of each Peak Residence behind the scenes, ensuring residents’ peace of mind that their investments are protected whether at home or away.

“For most buyers, a branded residence is a lifestyle investment,” says F.S.R. Estates’ Chekemian. “Our buyer pool tends to be younger: millennials and pre-retirees. They’re looking at this as an investment to enjoy now versus waiting until they retire. And in the meantime, they can cover their expenses, enjoy it, and have play money left over. In a low-rise branded development like Peak Residences, residents also have the benefit of being part of a community instead of owning a single-family home that’s not part of a resort. They love the hotel luxuries and amenities. But they also like the idea of locking up and being able to walk away. It’s more attractive from a rental occupancy, maintenance, and a personal occupancy standpoint. And it’s easier and safer from personal standpoint.”

Another significant benefit of becoming a Peak Residences homeowner, adds Chekemian, is participating in St. Kitts & Nevis’s Citizenship-By-Investment, or CBI, program.

As a qualifying real estate investment property, Peak Residences’ buyers are eligible to become St. Kitts & Nevis citizens and passport holders, typically within three months of closing. With billionaires building “doomsday” bunkers and countries like New Zealand shutting their borders to foreigners during the pandemic, this is no small deal. Dual citizenship is attractive for many reasons, especially for Americans, not the least of which are the travel and tax benefits (St. Kitts & Nevis has no income or inheritance taxes). Citizenship is for life and includes full citizenship rights of the UK and other Commonwealth countries as well as the ability to travel to 157 countries in the world visa-free. Immediate family members are also eligible for citizenship and it can be passed down to future generations by decent.

“St. Kitts & Nevis’s CBI program gives us a big competitive edge over other real estate opportunities,” says Chekemian. “When potential clients are looking for a luxury branded residence in the Caribbean market we tick the 5-star resort brand box with Four Seasons, but we also provide that extra plus with the citizenship and dual passport potential.”

As for Peak Residences’ coveted Nevis location, where development is tightly restricted to preserve the island’s ‘almost-private’ vibe, both St. Kitts and Nevis were formed by ancient volcanic activity. That means the environment is lush and fertile ecologically, unlike branded residential properties in places like Mexico’s Los Cabos, which gets a shot glass of rain annually. Its topography is also knuckled and mountainous, unlike the Bahamas, affording residents dramatic views of an ever-changing chemistry of light and motion across a landscape that’s more reminiscent of Hawaii or Fiji.

Underwater, Nevis drops off precipitously into the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Caribbean Sea to the west, where the deep bluewater sustains a mirror-like submarine rainforest of soft corals, technicolor sponges, manta rays, and reef sharks. The island is also home to one of only a few certified sea turtle sanctuaries in the Caribbean, most famously Lover’s Beach on the north shore where three endangered species — the Green, the Leatherback, and the Hawksbill — haul themselves ashore by the hundreds every year to dig nests in the sand and lay their eggs. On the eastern side of the island, the 2000-mile fetch of the Atlantic makes for some of the world’s best kite surfing, while the deepwater channels north and east of the island between Monserrat and Antigua and Barbuda are legendary for their trophy class marlin and tuna fishing.

Peak Residence homeowners will also find themselves immersed in Nevis’s renowned “culture of hospitality”. A lot of resort destinations like to tout this as one of their primary selling points to make visitors feel welcome rather than like some kind of invasive species. Hotels across all star-ranges tend to do the same. Yet true hospitality, while it can be taught, cannot be forced. In its truest sense, it radiates, because it’s part of the human DNA of a place. Nevis has a profound way of re-framing how real, meaningful hospitality should be experienced in the first place.

“I’ve traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean, and I haven’t found anyone even as close to genuinely warm and welcoming as the people from Nevis,” says Maltz. “They love guests, and it comes from the heart.”

Taken together — human and natural, cultural and historical — it’s no wonder Four Seasons chose Nevis as one of only three islands in the Caribbean to plant its brand over thirty years ago. For 58 fortunate homeowners at Peak Residences, that same sense of place, privilege, and legacy can now be lived every day.

Link to Complete Forbes Article

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