Published by linker 5
Posted on October 30, 2020
6 min readLast updated: January 10, 2025
This piece explores how LightArt by Tom John Or-Paz seeks to leverage art to improve neighborhoods at scale in the branded real estate sector.
Urban neighborhoods across many cities of the world have been recording a rapid rise in gentrification over the last few decades. Sometimes, multiple neighborhoods in the same city are gentrified simultaneously, as in the case of Washington DC with close to 150 gentrified neighborhoods between 2000 and 2013.
Depending on who you ask, gentrification could either be seen as a blessing, a curse, or a mix of both. Urban theorist Richard Florida observes that gentrification is a symptom and potentially a cure, for the scarcity of quality urbanism.
In his words, “the driving force behind gentrification is the far larger process of spiky reurbanization—itself propelled by large-scale public and private investment in everything from transit, schools, and parks to private research institutions and housing redevelopment.” This peice explores how LightArt, a new player in the branded real estate industry seeks to leverage art to improve neighborhoods at scale.
There’s no single all-encompassing definition for gentrification but it broadly refers to a process by which a neighborhood experiences some infrastructural and socioeconomic changes due to a surge in real estate investments and an influx of new higher-income residents into an erstwhile historically disinvested neighborhood.
On the plus side, gentrification can transform disinvested neighborhoods into thriving centers of economic prosperity. The influx of real estate investments leads to the renovation of infrastructure, parks, and public areas. The rise in construction activity leads to a job boom, and the newly-opened service and retail businesses also hire more people. There’s also been a direct correlation between gentrified neighborhoods and an increase in the property tax base which in turn provides more funding for local public schools and makes the local police force better equipped.
On the other side of the coin, there are arguments that gentrification eventually prices out longtime residents of a neighborhood from renting or buying properties in a place they’ve called home for decades. There’s also the argument that lower-income residents of gentrifying neighborhoods often become economically marginalized. Another critical but unquantifiable effect of gentrification is the argument that it destroys the soul of neighborhoods.
Tom John Or-Paz, a millionaire entrepreneur believes that art can be a valuable tool to improve the curb appeal of neighborhoods and to unlock the positive features of gentrification at scale. Tom wants to rethink neighborhoods through his new company, LightArt, a branded real estate company seeking to facilitate the intersection between modern art, intentional design, and functional living spaces.
According to Tom, “for us, art is an emotional journey that turns a standard project into a way of life.” LightArt works with a team of cultural consultants, artists, designers, and architects to transform a regular property into the envy of the neighborhood by combining art and color with community life.
Tom John Or-Paz has been involved in the branded real estate space since 2013 when he was the Senior VP of Business Developments at Fashion TV, a position from which he led the company to launch its first branded real estate project. Afterward, he got involved with many other branded real estate projects across Europe, the Middle East, and emerging Asia.
Tom John Or-Paz started LightArt in 2019 and now, LightArt is starting out with its first branded real estate in the Florentine neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel. The neighborhood had previously been known for commerce and trade, it had a TV series named after it in the 1990s and it is now gradually being transformed into an urban bohemian neighborhood with pristine beaches, excellent nightlife, and Bauhaus-inspired buildings for artsy souls.
There’s no particular rhythm or rhyme to how or where gentrification happens. In Lisbon Portugal, the medieval Mouraria neighborhood used to be dilapidated up until 2009 when it started getting gentrified. It has now become a dining destination with fantastic hilltop views.
The same is true if you’ve recently been to the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires in Argentina, you’ll most likely remember its nice mix of modern art, cool retail shops, and historic synagogues. Yet, it wasn’t always that cool and it had previously been a crumbling relic of a historically Jewish community before being revived by gentrifiers.
LightArt however differentiates itself from the competition in the branded real estate sector by working with real estate developers in the post-planning and permit stage by infusing art into their base designs.
Beyond infusing art into the designs, LightArt also ensures that the properties are outfitted with the latest smart home technology systems from the ground up. The properties have leading smart home technology, automated parking service, and an app-based property management service. LightArt also works with the property developers to market the properties to the right prospects.
LightArt also commissions and provides the artwork for the external and public areas of the properties while working with the people that purchase the properties to style the interior to match their art tastes and design preferences. LightArt then facilitates a concierge service that refreshes the look and feel of the property by refreshing and replaces the artwork every quarter.
Branded real estate is becoming increasingly popular and they could become the new standard for the real estate industry. Liam Bailey, head of Residential Research at Knight Frank and author of the Global Branded Residences – 2019 report observes that “it seems likely that as global wealth creation expands, the demand for high-quality residential development property in key global centers will undoubtedly rise.”
Apart from the appeal and emotional sentiments of living in a branded property, branded properties provide an additional layer of trust, security, and provenance because the success of the venture influences how the brand name attached to the project is perceived.
Likewise, Liam’s report also shows that that branded real estate also benefits the property developer. For instance, branded real estate is reportedly valued by as much as 34% on average than non-branded properties. Granted, the higher valuation of branded real estate varies from 5.7%in Jakarta to 45% in Puerto Rico and as high as 120% in some exotic markets such as Dubai.
Branded real estate provides more identification and endorsement for people who want to be associated with the lifestyle of the brand. Thankfully, art unifies people across socio-economic divides and LightArt might be up to something in its bid to leverage art to get the best out of gentrification without robbing neigborhoods of their souls.
This is a contributed article
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