American artist Brian Donnelly, better known to the world under the name KAWS, paid 17 million dollars to development, leasing and management company Thor Equities for a 10,000 square-foot building next to his studio in Williamsburg on North 9th St, more than double the price for the building the real estate company originally paid for ($8.35 million), resulting in a $1,700 per square foot transaction, in hopes to expand his existing studio he moved in back in 2017.

According to the 2019 Artnet Intelligence report, the artist’s average sale price of his works went up from $42,272 to $82,063. Needless to say, KAWS’s works alone made over 33.8 million dollars worth on auction sales at Christie’s throughout 2018, selling 5 pieces for over $1 million in November that year, making the $17 million investment in real estate understandable.