Luxury has always loved a stage. It used to be the runway, the showroom, the first-class cabin. Now it’s the skyline.
Across Dubai, Miami, London and beyond, a growing number of high-end brands are putting their names on residential towers and villa communities — not as sponsorship deals, but as fully-fledged branded residences: homes designed to feel like you’re living inside the brand.
For buyers, it’s an address that signals taste, access and belonging. For brands, it’s a lucrative expansion play that deepens loyalty and creates a new profit engine—often without taking on the heavy risks of construction.
And the numbers suggest this isn’t a passing fad. Knight Frank’s research tracks the sector’s rise from 169 branded residence schemes in 2011 to 611 today, with forecasts pointing to 1,019 by 2030.
So, what’s driving the boom—and why are so many luxury names suddenly in the property business?
What exactly are branded residences?
Branded residences are residential properties where a well-known brand influences the design, services, and lifestyle experience — and where buyers pay extra for that association.
Historically, the segment was dominated by hotel groups, because the logic was straightforward: if guests love a hotel experience, some will want a permanent version of it. Four Seasons, for example, traces its leadership in branded residences back to 1985.
What’s changed is the breadth of brands involved. Alongside hospitality giants, non-hotel luxury brands — especially automotive, fashion, jewellery and lifestyle names — are increasingly joining the market.
The brands leading the charge: cars, couture, jewellery and “wellness living”
Carmakers: turning engineering into an address
Car brands have found a particularly natural bridge into real estate: they already sell design, performance identity, and emotional loyalty.
- Porsche Design Tower, Miami, helped popularise the “car-to-apartment” concept, with car elevator systems becoming a signature of the category.
- Aston Martin Residences, Miami, officially opened in April 2024, positioning the brand’s design language as a full lifestyle environment.
- Bentley Residences (Sunny Isles Beach, Florida) has leaned heavily into automotive theatre, built around the Dezervator car elevator concept, and is scheduled for completion in 2027 (per Bentley).
- In Dubai, Binghatti markets Mercedes-Benz Places as the world’s first Mercedes-Benz-branded residence, while Reuters’ press-release distribution also describes an even bigger ambition: a multi-tower branded district concept tied to Mercedes-Benz and Binghatti.
And yes, Bugatti has stepped into the arena too, with its Dubai residential tower developed with Binghatti—a headline-grabbing example of how far “brand immersion” can go.
Fashion and jewellery: translating aesthetic authority into real estate
Fashion houses and jewellery brands bring a different promise: taste-making power. Their branded properties sell a curated lifestyle — materials, colour palettes, furnishings and the kind of “quiet theatre” associated with designer worlds.
- In Ras Al Khaimah, Giorgio Armani partnered with RAK Properties to launch what it describes as the world’s first Armani-branded beach villas.
- Jacob & Co. has extended its high-jewellery identity into branded real estate on Al Marjan Island.
Hotels and the “amenities arms race”
Hotel brands still dominate the playbook — because service is the secret sauce. And increasingly, those services aren’t just concierge desks and spas. New developments compete on wellness, longevity and community.
The Financial Times has described a shift towards purpose-driven, experience-heavy living—a kind of “amenities arms race” that includes wellness tech and niche passions.
Six Senses, for instance, has leaned into “biohack” positioning in its London destination materials, listing features such as a biohack recovery lounge and cryotherapy.
The strategy behind branded residences: why brands love them
1) Brand extension without the usual operational risk
Luxury brands are experts at selling high-margin products — but physical expansion (like hotels) can be expensive and operationally messy. Branded residences often avoid that problem.
Typically, a property developer handles construction and delivery, while the luxury brand influences design and experience standards (and earns fees/licensing income). In simple terms: the brand gets a premium revenue stream without having to become a construction company.
2) A powerful loyalty engine: “live inside the brand”
Some luxury customers don’t just want to own a brand; they want to inhabit it. This is where branded residences shine: they turn affinity into daily ritual — from the lobby design to the service ethos.
That’s especially potent for automotive brands, where identity and passion are already central to the purchase decision. The “car elevator to your living room” feature isn’t just a gimmick — it’s physical proof that the brand understands the owner’s worldview.
3) Premium pricing through trust and scarcity
The market also bakes in a pricing advantage. Research cited in sector commentary and reporting frequently puts branded residence premiums in the range of the low-30% average globally—with some markets higher—because buyers are paying for perceived quality, prestige, and a “managed” luxury experience.
4) Real estate as the ultimate status signal
Luxury is changing. For the ultra-wealthy, the status game isn’t just about handbags and watches — it’s about rare, hard-to-access assets.
This aligns with what consumer-behaviour experts describe as the social value of luxury branding: brands act as shorthand for where someone “sits” in a hierarchy. A branded address becomes a highly visible badge — not only to visitors, but also to peers and networks.
Where the boom is hottest: Dubai, Miami, and a shifting global map
The United States remains a major hub — especially South Florida — but the Middle East has become a standout growth story. Knight Frank highlights how the US is still the largest market, while the Middle East (particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia) is a major driver of future pipeline growth.
Savills goes further on Dubai’s momentum, describing it as the most active city globally and projecting it to account for a significant share of regional development through the next several years.
That mix — global capital, tax appeal, developer ambition, and a buyer base comfortable with bold luxury — helps explain why so many branded residence announcements now seem to land in Dubai first.
The risks: when branding turns from exclusive to excessive
Branded residences trade on rarity. That’s also their vulnerability.
If the branding feels too loud, too repetitive, or too mass-produced, it can erode the very premium it’s meant to create. Overbranding can tip from “iconic” to “tacky” in the eyes of both buyers and the wider public — and luxury, famously, is sensitive to perception.
There’s also a strategic tightrope: brands must ensure the lived experience matches the promise. A product you can return is one thing; a home is an entirely different level of expectation.
What happens next: the future of branded living
Two trends appear to be strengthening:
- Lifestyle specialisation: developments marketed around shared passions (wellness, longevity, sport, gastronomy, yachting) rather than pure prestige.
- More non-hotel brands: with research and industry commentary pointing to a broader mix of hospitality and non-hospitality names shaping the next wave.
In other words, the next generation of branded residences won’t just sell a logo. It will sell an identity, a routine, and a community — with the brand acting as curator-in-chief.
Conclusion: the new frontier of luxury is the home
Luxury brands have always chased proximity to their most valuable customers. Branded residences take that idea to its logical extreme: not a purchase, not a membership — but a permanent relationship.
For buyers, it’s an elevated lifestyle with the comfort of a familiar name and a service culture they trust. For brands, it’s a high-value expansion strategy that deepens loyalty and monetises aspiration in a way few other categories can.
The showroom used to be the endpoint. Now it’s the starting line. And the next race for luxury supremacy is being run — quite literally — in the skyline.