thought leadership by Kal Kennard Partner Citizens International
PIED-A-TERRE?
‘pied-a-terre’ is a small home kept for occasional use and literally means ‘foot on the ground’ when translated from French. It’s a well-known concept that has been popular for many generations in the luxury real estate market, whether it’s a stylish petite pad for busy businesspeople to crash in during the week, or a weekend escape in the country. The idea of having a foot on the ground and a bolthole property is one I, and many other champions of the Caribbean region, continually promote having personal experience of the benefits. A pied-a-terre in the Caribbean isn’t the most common marketing angle however, since we’re more accustomed to selling luxury second homes often enjoyed multiple times a year, to the traditional ‘lifestyle’ markets of Europe and North America. In 2020 we saw clear evidence of a pandemic-driven urban exodus to lake and mountain country in particular within a few hours of New York and Toronto, but there is also a growing desire to look further afield to offshore, tax friendly, lifestylerich shores like Antigua & Barbuda. It appears to us that the continued growth in ‘lifestyle’ clients from North America and Europe is having a perceptible knockon effect on the citizenship market and by that I generally mean clients in all the other regions of the world. The truth is a property in the Caribbean perfectly dovetails a second passport as a ‘Plan B’ combination package and I am delighted that the appreciation for what I call ‘the luxury Caribbean’ has grown in the citizenship markets over time with Antigua & Barbuda at the top of that list. Although international visa-free travel remains a primary motivator, a ‘Plan B’ destination for your family is now also front-of-mind and we can partially thank 2020 for that with international border closures in many countries limiting many
34
THE CITIZEN
