Benito Fernández ventures into real estate: invests US$4 million in a building with his fashion signature in La Plata

Fashion designer Benito Fernández is diving headfirst into the real estate business. He presented his first housing project: a building in La Plata that promises to revolutionize the market with its unique DNA.

The investment is nearly 4 million dollars, and the building will be located on 51st Street, in the heart of the Buenos Aires provincial capital. There will be 33 units ranging from studios to premium duplexes, with prices starting at 100,000 dollars and reaching up to 200,000. But what really draws attention is the concept: a facade that simulates an urban loom, with undulating balconies and golden metal sunshades.

“Many times I was in a taxi, saw a building and thought about how I would remodel it,” the designer confessed. And now he is making it a reality. The project, named Benito Residences, seeks to merge fashion, architecture, and real estate into a single proposal. According to developer Gonzalo Massey, this is the first time a local designer has put his signature on a real estate development of this scale.

But the bet is not just aesthetic. Fernández speaks of a “new luxury” that goes beyond expensive materials. “For me, luxury is being able to work from anywhere, having packages delivered to my home, having a room with space for a 2×2 bed,” he explained. That is why the building will include services such as package reception, lockers, concierge, guest room, coworking space, rooftop terrace with pool, and a lobby designed for meetings.

The project was conceived before the pandemic, but lockdown changed priorities. “The home ceased to be just a place to sleep and became an office, gym, sanctuary,” the designer noted. And that perspective was key in defining the spaces.

The choice of La Plata is no coincidence. Fernández wanted to start in a provincial city, not in the capital. “We evaluated which city in the country to target. First you start with Buenos Aires, but we thought about being a bit more federal,” explained Massey, who is from La Plata. The city offers urban scale, architectural tradition, and a transforming area with design as its hallmark.

Architects Daniel and Claudia Mandaglio were in charge of the project. For them, working with a fashion designer meant stepping out of their comfort zone. “It was a disruptive experience, because on the other side is Benito with his DNA and we had to provide a fitting response,” Claudia said. The challenge was to ensure the designer’s involvement was not reduced to mere decoration. “It wasn’t about putting prints in a lobby and that’s it. Architecture had to absorb that identity without losing functionality,” they assured.

The facade is the most striking element. Conceived as an urban loom, it will feature undulating balconies and an envelope with golden metal sunshades. “The exterior is calmer in its color and morphology. The disruptive part was dressing it, drawing a parallel with fashion,” Daniel explained. The entrance door will be blue, a gesture intended to become a trademark. Benito already imagines that if the concept is replicated in other cities, each building will have a door of a different color.

Inside, the story changes. The lobby will be the space with the greatest visual impact, with double height, organic shapes, a tapestry designed by Benito, prints, textures, and a much more expressive palette. “The building has Benito’s DNA, which comes from colors and textures. We tried to implement it mainly in the interior,” Claudia added.

The launch price is expected to be around 2,600 dollars per square meter, with an expectation of reaching values between 3,200 and 3,400 dollars once completed. According to the developer, the premium over a standard square meter could be around 35%. The question is whether the market is willing to pay more for that identity. Massey acknowledges that the project will be positioned above the average value in the area.

The payment method will be 40% down payment and the remaining balance in 24 installments, half in dollars and half in pesos adjusted by CAC. The intention is to start construction between September and October, with a completion period of between two and a half and three years.

Benito Fernández is already thinking big. “If I look back, my father was a cardiologist and ended up building buildings. Today I remember him and think: there is a pattern that repeats itself,” he reflected. And he does not rule out replicating the concept in other cities. For now, La Plata will be the laboratory for his new luxury.