Miami, Florida, USA

The greater Miami mindset is one of preservation and reinvention. Historic Art Deco and Miami Modern architecture, better known as MiMo, mix with spiraling post-modern towers. It is an evolving, sun-drenched skyline.

Every December, the international art world descends on Miami for the prestigious Art Basel fair. The fact is that art permeates the city year-round. Whole neighborhoods have been revitalized by its creative community, making Miami real estate a great investment for aesthetes. The Wynwood Arts District, for instance, has become an international destination thanks to the artists and gallerists who moved into this once-blighted area and transformed it into a flashpoint of contemporary art.

But art in Miami isn’t just in its many museums, institutions and galleries. In a growing movement, residential real estate developers have been commissioning original paintings, sculptures, murals and installations as centerpieces of lobbies and common spaces in their new luxury condominium buildings. For high end buyers who love art, nothing quite hits home like experiencing it where they live.

Communities here in south Florida often seem to be in shift-shaping motion. The Miami Beach area known as South of Fifth Street, or SoFi, for instance, is now a family friendly enclave that’s been reaping the benefits of strategic development over the past two decades. This one-time forgotten zone now draws folks for its million-dollar views--with the million-dollar condos to go with them.

Residences in blue chip Bal Harbour, bohemian Coconut Grove and on the exclusive islands in Biscayne Bay fetch top dollar. In neighborhoods like Sunny Isles, old motels are making way for exceptional high rise developments.

The stock of top-tier residential properties with resort-style amenities and turnkey ease makes the Greater Miami region prime hunting grounds for vacation home-seekers, especially cash-in-hand foreign investors looking to add what they consider a stable investment to their portfolios. A gateway city, Miami’s attractions have always been global. Sun, sand, swanky shopping and sophisticated pursuits are universal.