The Kortz Center Heist can be run with nothing but the required Art Studio, but Rockstar has wired a handful of properties and Mansion upgrades into the finale that make the whole job smoother. If you have been sitting on businesses from previous updates, some of them now pull double duty here.
None of these change the primary painting's payout, and none are strictly required. But owning them can make the finale less stressful, whether that is more time in the vault, stronger weapons, or an easier escape. Here is what each one does and which are actually worth it.
Every Upgrade
Property or Upgrade | What it does in the Finale | Cost |
|---|---|---|
Mansion Armory | It adds a Mk II weapon to each heist loadout | $720,000 |
Mansion Vehicle Workshop | It improves the performance of Manchez and Armored Caracara getaway vehicles | $880,000 |
Mansion Security | It helps distract the cops during the finale and lowers the wanted level start by one, making your escape much easier | $1,750,000 |
Bunker | Owning a Bunker adds special ammo and Mk II upgrades to your loadout | $1,165,000 - $4,070,000 |
Agency | It grants additional vault time during the finale by slowing down the thermal sensor detection rate | $2,010,000 - $2,830,000 |
Darnell Bros. Garment Factory | It grants additional vault time during the finale by slowing down the thermal sensor detection rate | $2,350,000 |
Terrorbyte | It grants additional vault time during the finale by slowing down the thermal sensor detection rate | $1,375,000 |
Arcade Drone Station | It allows you to use a Nano Drone during the finale that can disable cameras or stun guards | $1,460,000 |
Here's every upgrade at a glance and what they do. Note that the buffs from Agency, Darnell Bros. Garment Factory and Terrorbyte do not stack.
Mansion Upgrades
These are bought directly through your Mansion's renovation options, the same place you purchase the Art Studio.
Mansion Armory
The Mansion Armory adds a Mk II weapon to every heist loadout. This is a standout upgrade for the finale. On the Street loadout it gives you a Pump Shotgun Mk II that downs fully armoured guards in a single torso shot, which takes a lot of the pressure off stealth and helps protect your accuracy if you are chasing the Elite Challenge.
The one big caveat here is that you need to own an Agency before you can build the Mansion Armory. So the Armory is not really a standalone purchase, it comes bundled with the cost of an Agency, which also does grant extra vault time.
Mansion Vehicle Workshop
If you purchase the Mansion Vehicle Workshop upgrade, your Manchez and Armored Caracara get a performance upgrade during the Kortz Center Heist finale. If you own an Armored Kuruma, it also gets the same buffs as the Armored Caracara.
The Manchez bikes get a noticeable top speed and acceleration upgrade, while the Armored Caracara gets an ECU tune and a transmission boost, allowing it to reach top speed much quicker.
Mansion Security
Mansion Security is an important Mansion upgrade in itself, but it becomes even more useful during the Kortz Center Heist Finale. The Mansion Security helps distract the police during your escape, it also helps lower your starting wanted level down to 3 stars as opposed to 4-stars.
This upgrade is the single most expensive upgrade for the Mansion, and its value depends entirely on how much you struggle with the getaway. It becomes more appealing on Hard Mode, where the sewer and train tunnels are blocked and you have to lose the cops on the surface streets.
Existing Businesses That Help
If you're a veteran player who owns multiple businesses, including the ones on this list, you're in luck, as they'll make the Kortz Center Heist finale a lot easier for you.
Bunker
The Bunker adds special ammo and Mk II upgrades to the weapon you get from the Mansion Armory. The buffs you get from the Bunker builds on the Armory rather than replacing it, so it is only useful if you already have the Armory in place. Do not purchase the Bunker just for the upgrades, if you don't own an Armory already.
Agency, Garment Factory, or Terrorbyte
Each of these grants additional time to steal the primary target painting in the vault, and this is the single most useful bonus for most players, because more vault time means less panic while you do the mini-game of looting the primary target, and of course the secondary paintings. More vault time means that the rate at which the thermal sensor goes up slows down. This upgrade is especially useful if you're doing the Kortz Center Heist solo.
It is important to note that these three do not stack. Owning all three gives you the same vault time bonus as owning just one, so there is no benefit to buying extras purely for this heist. If you are picking one, the Terrorbyte is the cheapest at GTA$1,375,000, but since the Agency is already required for the Mansion Armory, most players will get their vault time from the Agency anyway.
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Arcade Drone Station
If you own a Drone Station in your Arcade, you can use Nano Drones during the Kortz Center Heist finale, which can help electrocute guards or disable security cameras. We don't think it's worth purchasing just for the Kortz Center Heist finale.
You can check out our Easy Mode and Hard Mode guides to clear it without a hassle.
What's Actually Worth Buying?
If you already own these properties from past updates, you get their benefits for free, so there is nothing to decide. The choices only matter if you are buying specifically for this heist. So our decision and choices here are based on the Kortz Center Heist specifically.
For most players, the best value is the Agency plus Mansion Armory combination. The Agency is required to build the Armory anyway, so a single purchase path gets you both the Mk II loadout and the extra vault time, which are the two upgrades that make the biggest practical difference. That costs you roughly GTA$2.73 million together.
Other than that, none of these are worth buying individually just for the Kortz Center Heist. The hardest parts of the run are the laser room and staying undetected, and no upgrade helps with either of those. Once you are past the guards, a suppressed pistol handles everything anyway. So buy the Agency and Armory if you want the smoothest experience, treat any business you already own as a free bonus, and skip the rest unless you have money to burn.
For everything else on this job, head back to our Kortz Center Heist hub, where we have gathered every guide we have published in one place. If you are still working through the setup, our Scope Out guide and optional prep missions guide cover the groundwork, while our solo Elite Challenge walkthrough takes you through the full finale route from start to finish.
And once you are comfortable with the standard run, our Hard Mode solo Elite Challenge guide shows how to clear it on the tougher difficulty using the Alpha Mail approach.