Good Morning & Hello Friday

Beeple: Still thinking about that scene at Jack Hanley Gallery in Tribeca. Wow!!! Mind blown. Of course, we did NOT get in. But who ever heard of needing to RSVP for a gallery opening? But not all is lost. I did get to meet Jason Morena and his awesome crew from @one37pm. They knew enough to get there by 1pm and they DID get to hang with Beeple. (#1, 2 below).

Afterwards, Anne L. and I headed to Odeon for an early dinner and ended up seated next to Rowan Drake (pic above top right). He’s all of 18 and was there to meet with his lawyer! Total cutie and very nice guy. I swear, he will be the next Justin Bieber! He already has a date in mind for when he will sell out MSG.

1. Watch: 7 min recap, incl. major tip on how to avoid getting hammered at lunch

2. Beeple (Mike Winkelman) at Jack Hanley Gallery in Tribeca.

This is MAJOR

• Beeple (Mike Winkelman) is best known for introducing NFTs to the mainstream and for selling his Everydays piece for $69.34 million at Christie’s auction in March 2021 (the third most expensive artwork sold by a living artist). It was also the first purely digital work offered by a major auction house.
• I discovered Beeple thru Clubhouse (remember when that was a thing?). And indeed during the early days of the pandemic, I listened to NFT creators and experts for hours on end. He was one of the very best to learn from.
• At last year’s Frieze Art Fair in NYC, I also spotted him checking out Daniel Arsham’s work at Perrotin.
• Unfortunately, I did not get to see him at his Thursday night opening. People lined up by early afternoon. But I did get to meet Jason Morena and the crew from one37pm. BOTTOM LINE: FABULOUS EXPERIENCE!!! Thank you Jack Hanley and thank you Beeple.

3. Vice Media partners with Bjarke Ingels to create “the culture of the future” (or so they say!)

“If brands want to be ‘inside the culture of the future,’ then they need to be inside the metaverse.“

Morton Grubak, global executive creative director of innovation, Virtue Futures (Source: PR Week)

• The virtual space is located on the Decentraland platform and will serve as the agency’s virtual innovation lab where clients can experiment with NFTs, DAOs (decentralised autonomous organizations) and Web 3.0.
• The initiative is being managed by the innovation division of Vice’s creative culture agency, Virtue. Clients include Logitech, Converse, L’Oréal, Beats by Dre and Coca-Cola.

MY TAKE: I’m starting to feel this is all just a bunch of hype. My reality check came via the Giphy metaverse pop-up on my street in December (link here). I was so excited about it, and so much effort and creativity had gone into the project. End result? Total bust. Zero engagement. I watched for almost a month as droves of young people walked by the pop-up windows. No one stopped to explore the metaverse! That said, this article on blooloop is one of the best and most comprehensive I’ve found on this trend and ways it is being incorporated, especially by entertainment and hospitality businesses.

4. Midtown Manhattan is getting cooler by the minute!

And Rockefeller Center is the epicenter!

• The buzziest hotspot is Pebble Bar (Rodrigo, Elliott, and I are checking it out next Friday – I will report back). There’s a stellar team of nightlife pros behind it and Pete Davidson (swoon) is an investor! It’s designed by Gachot Studios (Pendry Hotel). Contains three floors of bars, lounges and dining rooms. The fourth floor is an event space, Johnny’s, accessible by a secret elevator and comes with its own private bar, cocktail lounge, and a shiny black piano. Per Page Six, it’s where Robert Pattinson just hosted a top secret Batman after-after party. Where: 67 W 49th St, New York
• Avra (major Greek restaurant) is opening its third location later this year at 1271 Sixth Avenue.
• Din Tai Fung, a Michelin starred Taiwanese restaurant, just signed a 15-year lease (26,400 sq ft) to open in Midtown at 1633 Broadway (bet. 50th and 51st Street).
• Christian Pascal, a co-owner of celebrity-magnet Hunt & Fish Club just leased the building formerly housing Bill’s Supper Club. It’s rumored to retain that name.

MY TAKE: Downtown cool spreading to uptown is music to my ears. Goes along with seeing more people returning to their offices. All excellent indicators for Midtown and NYC as a whole.

5. Airports get a massive upgrade courtesy of the art world

Raves are pouring in for La Guardia’s transformation and Sarah Sze’s installation

• I have yet to catch a flight from LGA. My upcoming trip to Austin departs from JFK. But I will plan my PHX trip thru LGA.
• LGA also just named 6 additional artists (including two of my favorites: Rashid Johnson and Fred Wilson) to create installations for Delta’s new Terminal.
• And it’s not just in NYC. Nashville’s International Airport just announced a new installation by artist Jacob Hashimoto ($900K).

MY TAKE: Hotels were among the first to commission artists to create site-specific works. Airports are following their playbook. Look for partnerships between architects and artists to become a must-have for all new development projects.

6. Copenhagen-based startup LuggageHero: the must-have app for airbnb travelers

The start-up company came out of a personal experience of its founder. During a trip to Barcelona, Jannik Lawaetz became stranded outside of an Airbnb apartment at 9 a.m. with luggage to carry around until his late afternoon flight. “Normally, there would be a concierge service that would help out, but there is none when you stay at a short-time rental apartment. If you still want to enjoy some of the city without having to carry your stuff around, you’re not able to leave your luggage behind.”

Jannik Lawaetz, CEO and co-founder of Luggage Hero (Source: Miami Today News)

• Launched in 2016, LuggageHero offers travelers a safe place (e.g., at shops, cafes or restaurants), to leave luggage for any amount of time in a day at an hourly rate of $1 or a flat $8. All are certified before activation to make sure the storage space is safe. A third-party provider guarantees each piece of luggage for $300,000 insurance.
• Now in more than 1,100 locations in 45 cities worldwide, LuggageHero has logged more than 3 million hours of stored luggage.
• The company developed a smart POI (point of interest?) algorithm system to predict which cities would be best for the business.
• In Miami, the highest performing locations are Cybr Caffe at 574 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach and Lulu’s Nitrogen Ice Cream at 2001 Biscayne Blvd.
• New York remains LuggageHero’s best performing city because of the nearness of their locations to Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal.

MY TAKE: Great concept. I’m not an Airbnb traveler so the need for bag storage has never crossed my mind. If anyone reading this has used LuggageHero let me know what the experience was like.

7. Sniffspot app: The Airbnb for Dog Off-Leash Areas

Founded in 2018 but recently big in Vegas

• Las Vegas families are using the Sniffspot app to rent their enclosed backyards to dog owners for extra income. Listings range from $4 per hour to $25.
• Particularly popular among people who live in apartments with dogs. It is also an alternative for dogs that do not do well in dog parks.
• People also use the service for dog birthday parties and invite their families and their dogs.
• Sniffspot reported that thousands of these private dog parks are now available for rent in hundreds of U.S. cities. (Source: WikiDogAll)

MY TAKE: I’d be concerned about security (both for the dog owner and the yard renter). My biggest question: who picks up the dog poop? Concept reminds me of the “rent your backyard pool to strangers” which went off the rails quickly.

8. Wondering why there are no houses to buy?

A new report from Redfin shows that homeowners across the U.S. aren’t moving as often as they used to.

• In 2021, homeowners, on average, had spent 13.2 years in their houses up from 10.1 years in 2012.
• Homeowners are getting older. 33% of households nationwide were headed by someone who was 65 years or older in 2019, up from 28% in 2012. As more Americans opt to age in place, they’re not relocating to smaller properties or retirement communities.
• The longest tenure rate is in Los Angeles, where homeowners will live in a property for 18.1 years on average. California’s Proposition 13 incentivizes homeowners to hang onto their homes because it limits property-tax increases. 

MY TAKE: Aging in place is a real thing. I plan to stay in my place until I can’t make it up the stairs. Most of my similarly-aged friends are also staying put in their homes. I am also fairly certain that many of the younger people (without families) who migrated to the suburbs early pandemic, will make their way back to cities over the next few years.

9. Hotel-Branded residences (this could tempt me to move!)

I’ve fantasized for years about how cool it would be to live at one of my favorite hotels!

• And now I almost could. Carlos Rosso, formerly of The Related Group, is building The Standard Residences, his first project, in Midtown Miami.
• Per Miami Luxury Homes, “The Standard’s quirky yet chic brand image, offers a fun and comfortable vibe rich in culture.” The property includes 228 pied-a-terre-style residences ranging from 432 to 965 square feet tentatively priced from $400K – $1MM.
• Hotel-like amenities offered include the Standard Café, a resort-style rooftop restaurant and bar, co-working spaces and private meeting rooms, food delivery from the rooftop restaurant, 24-hour attended lobby, concierge services, housekeeping, dry cleaning, and laundry.

“I like [the Standard’s] ethos. They don’t overextend themselves. They’re very boutique in that sense. And I like that it’s an honest brand. They’re not pretentious, but they’re cool and quirky. And I thought the Standard would attract people from New York and the Northeast, who are very familiar with the brand. The units are relatively small, about 600 square feet. This is perfect as a pied-à-terre for a New Yorker.”

Carlos Rosso, Real Estate Developer Miami

• IN AUSTIN, potential buyers snapped up more than half of the luxury Four Seasons-branded residences planned for a high-profile cliff overlooking Lake Austin. Prices start at $4.1 million for homes ranging in size from 1,900 square feet to 7,000 square feet.
• Per the Statesman, “location, view, potential amenities and global brand recognition help this particular location and offering.”
• The project includes a private marina and a funicular (inclined elevator) running from the hilltop to Lake Austin, a fine-dining restaurant; a cafe; an athletic center; golf simulators; pickleball courts. A four-story office building with 160,000 square feet of space is also planned on the site.
• The Lake Austin property joins standalone Four Seasons Private Residences in London, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Marrakech, as well as a project in Dubai.

“The project’s early success is a testament to the Four Seasons brand, as well as the developers’ passion and superior commitment to uncharted luxury.”

Eric Moreland, Moreland Properties (handling sales for this project)

MY TAKE: Over the years I’ve daydreamed about living at The Standard West Hollywood (RIP) as well as at Sister City, my neighbor on the LES (for the nanosecond it was in existence prior to COVID). I am a firm believer that my retiree cohort who are in good health will ultimately be drawn to the hotel-life as opposed to nursing-home-life. A few years ago in Stockholm, while staying at an ultra cool hotel, I discovered a fellow guest who I saw every morning at breakfast, was actually a local doctor who owned a palatial mansion in town but decided to move into the hotel because it was just more fun to be around hotel guests. He was well-liked by the staff and was always hosting friends to drinks or dinner at the hotel. I was envious then, and remain envious now.

10. Latter Day Saints and Matchmakers!

Who Knew??

• The billboard (above) is prominently featured on I-15 near downtown Salt Lake City. And it’s not a joke!
• LatterDayMatchmaker.com‘s CEO, Amy Seal, explains that the ‘prominent bachelor’ is quite the catch. His description on their website details him as a “renowned surgeon” and a “wonderful father.” In addition, he’s also in good shape and finds himself getting the attention of many younger women, even as someone in his 50s.
• He is further described as “a faithful, but very open-minded member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who served as a bishop multiple times.”
• Even though this featured bachelor doesn’t live in Utah, he has been willing to fly into Salt Lake City multiple times, sometimes multiple times a month, to go on dates with women that Seal has vetted for him.
• Applicants have to go through a basic compatibility analysis, including a 200-part questionnaire, and they have to be forthcoming about where they stand in their LDS faith. Some folks can be very strict and wouldn’t go near an R-rated movie or a caffeinated soda, while others can be a bit more relaxed in their lifestyles. (Source: abc4)

MY TAKE: Quite a few of my friends have lately turned to dating sites with great success so I wish the Prominent LDS Bachelor all the luck in the world!

And that’s a wrap for this week, my friends.

Leaving you with a few pics that capture the week. And don’t forget to look for me in your inbox next Friday, March 11.