Design Miami Makes Plans to Relocate to Miami Beach

Who knew that this was going to be the year that Design Miami changed completely? First they signed a big sponsorship deal with W Hotels, then just a few days ago, the art fair’s co-founder, Ambra Medda, suddenly resigned. Now another big change with the news that the group has plans to leave Miami proper and move to Miami Beach, to run alongside the other big annual design/art event there, Art Basel Miami Beach. While not 100% solidified yet, according to the Miami Herald, it appears the city (who had been vying for Design Miami to make the move) will give its okay tomorrow, letting the show “rent a parking lot across from the Art Basel home inside the city convention center.” Given that the two groups both have hands in each others pockets, investing-wise, the move certainly makes sense:

In 2007, [owner Craig Robins] sold a 10 percent stake in Design Miami to MCH Group, the owner of Art Basel. MCH also owns 50 percent of Design Miami’s annual Switzerland show, which coincides with the original Art Basel fair in MCH’s hometown of Basel, Switzerland.

Design Miami is the lone authorized satellite fair for Art Basel Miami Beach, the country’s leading contemporary arts fair. MCH also is a partner in a joint venture with Global Spectrum that runs the convention center year-round. In winning that city contract, MCH pledged to bring another of its international shows to the expo.

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