Move over snowbirds and retirees. When Art Basel opens in Miami Beach this week there will be a new audience in town ready to welcome its return to real life.
While the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on Florida, efforts to lure the fast-moving finance, law and tech industries to the low-tax Sunshine State have paid off. It is thanks, in part, to Miami’s Mayor, Francis Suarez, a corporate lawyer who has pushed the city’s appeal through rousing speeches, billboard advertising and social media campaigns. Businesses which have moved include the New York-based hedge fund group Blackstone, which has opened a tech-focused office in Downtown Miami.
Suarez’s campaigns have gone down well with some of Miami’s existing collecting community. “He has done an incredible job as an ambassador. There’s huge growth coming into Miami and south Florida, which has been a boom for its economy and real estate,” says Jorge Pérez, a property developer, philanthropist and a major…