The Pagani Residences is the latest ultra-luxe automotive apartment tower to reach Miami

Just what is it about the Miami waterfront that lures brands to make real estate investments? In addition to residential and condo towers associated with high-end hotel chains (Mandarin Oriental, Cipriani, The Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Aman and St. Regis), you’ll also find interior and fashion brands in on the action. These include Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Armani/Casa and even Baccarat (‘where life forever sparkles’).

So far, so predictable – hoteliers and interiors firms can certainly claim to know a thing or two about creating luxurious places to live. But what about the car makers? First to make a foray was Porsche, whose Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach revealed a hitherto untapped market for car enthusiasts who wished to cohabit with their collections, regardless of what floor level they lived on.

Next up came the Aston Martin Residences, which did away with the integral car lift but doubled down on the parity between in-car luxury and materials and the detail design and furnishings of the apartments in a 66-storey structure at 300 Biscayne Boulevard Way.

Still in the works are the Bentley Residences at 18401 Collins Avenue and the Mercedes-Benz Places development in Brickell (designed in collaboration with SHoP Architects). It’s worth noting that Miami isn’t the be-all and end-all of branded architecture. Mercedes is also building in Dubai (naturally), where you’ll also find residential developments by Lamborghini and Pininfarina. Meanwhile, Porsche Design opened a hotel tower in Stuttgart in 2023 and is mooting a tower in Bangkok.

Vroom with a view: Miami residences from Pagani Automobili

The latest premium automotive brand to take this robust approach to brand extension is Pagani Automobili, the Italian hypercar maker for extreme extroverts. Announcing a new site in Miami, the company is ensuring that the proposed Pagani Residences are pitched at those who love their cars just as much as their living quarters.

At this point, we should make a distinction between those who want to treat their cars like cars and those who wish to bring their four-wheeled friends into the bosom of their family. Both the Porsche and Bentley projects in Miami include something called the ‘Dezervator’, a sophisticated car elevator created by the developer, Dezer. Aston and Mercedes didn’t sign up for the same approach and nor, it seems, has Pagani.

Instead, the newest tower proposal for the Miami skyline moots a ‘luxury garage’, described as ‘not just a place to park, but a true architectural gallery designed for those who appreciate high-performance vehicles’. The tower was overseen by Revuelta Architecture International, but the garage space was by shaped by Horacio Pagani himself.

The former Lamborghini engineer, who set up his eponymous company in 1992, has shaped his dream workshop space behind a façade of perforated aluminium. Inside there’s enough space for each apartment to have a modest collection of cars, along with facilities for (outside) engineers to come and fettle the machines.

Residences range from 2,000 to 6,900 sq ft for the penthouses, and there’s an expansive residents’ lounge and terrace on the 30th floor, above a pool and gym. The structure is located on Harbor Island, one of the three islands that make up the city of North Bay Village in Biscayne Bay between Miami and Miami Beach.

Given that Pagani makes barely 50 cars a year, the real estate venture is a sizeable brand extension, one that highlights the ever-closer connection between Miami’s long-established developer community and some of the world’s biggest luxury brands.

More apocalyptically minded ironists could envisage a distant future where these towering monuments to the combustion engine rise up above a flooded city. For potential buyers, however, the Magic City still offers the promise of a gilded residential escape – now with added badge kudos.

Pagani Residences, from $3.7million, PaganiResidences.com, Pagani.com, @PaganiAutomobili