GTA Online Kortz Center Heist Guide: Setup, Approach & Payout

Launched on July 14, 2026 with update 1.73, the Kortz Center heist is the first real score added to GTA Online since Cayo Perico in 2020. Head to the grand Los Santos museum, where Swiss banker Mr. Faber and his right-hand man Raf De Angelis — Lester Crest has retired — commission you to steal high-value paintings, to be offloaded to wealthy clients or hung in your own mansion. It can be played solo or in co-op with up to four players.

Three weeks after release, the numbers are in: up to GTA$1,925,000 for the first weekly sale of a painting, secondary loot that can exceed 2.6 million on setup, and a demanding elite challenge. The first-sale bonus resets every Thursday: at the time we're publishing this guide, the counter reset to zero yesterday. So this is a good time to launch a clean run.

This guide covers the whole cycle: the initial investment, the casing — the most important step —, the mandatory and optional preps, the payout breakdown, and the four conditions of the elite challenge, along with the trap that can ruin a solo run.

The Art Studio: the $4.7 million entry ticket

To set up the heist, you need to own a mansion (purchased from the Prix Luxury Real Estate website) and add the room introduced by the update: the Art Studio, priced at GTA$4,700,000 via the renovation option. The million-dollar discount tied to the "Art Collector" challenge expired on July 13; Rockstar does, however, occasionally offer discounts to GTA+ subscribers, so check the monthly perks before checking out.

Two pieces of good news to soften the blow: the Art Studio only needs to be purchased once and remains available across all your mansions, and it's not required to take part. You can join a heist hosted by someone who has it, whether by invite or via the phone's quick job option, without owning anything yourself. It's in this studio that a forger produces the copies used to replace the stolen paintings — the requirement for the "perfect", fully discreet heist, which pays out more.

The casing: the step that determines the entire heist

As with Cayo Perico, everything starts with a mission to case the museum. What you discover at this stage determines the loot available, the entry points unlocked, and the optional preps on offer. Before heading out, check the museum model set up in the Art Studio: blue pins mark the points you still have left to find.

Once inside, the priority objective is the security room: avoid the camera sightlines, take down the guard, and upload the AI to the network to gain control of the surveillance system. Then adopt a simple habit: on every camera, pan the view all the way to the left and to the right. Several targets and points of interest sit outside the default frame, including the vault safes (which unlock the drill prep) and the loading dock delivery truck (which allows you to weaken the guards' weaponry).

Four entry points can be photographed: the staff entrance, the roof skylight, the sewers, and the loading dock. Each opens up a different approach for the final heist, and a dedicated reward ("Notable Entrance", 800 RP) rewards using all four across your runs. On the secondary loot side, photograph each item individually — a grouped photo only registers a single item. Only items in bulletproof display cases and small paintings count: large statues and monumental canvases are excluded. The pool also includes gemstones and three meteorites, tied to specific rewards.

Prep missions: six mandatory, five optional

Six mandatory prep missions unlock access to the final heist; five optional ones make it noticeably easier. Good to know: in Freemode, simply calling Raf launches the next prep, without having to go back through the villa's planning board.

• Mandatory: the access code, the hacking device, the staff badge, the security combination, a batch of untraceable weapons, and the getaway vehicle.
• Optional, unlocked via your scouting photos: guard patrol routes, EMP charges (which cut lights, security, and cameras), the glass cutter to open bulletproof display cases, drills to crack the vault's safes, and intercepting the guards' shipments, which degrades their weapons and armor.

Your other properties provide concrete synergies: the bunker places Mk II weapons and special ammo in the villa's weapon locker; the Agency, the Darnell Bros factory, or the Terrorbyte grant extra time in the vault; the Arcade's drone station gives access to nano drones; the villa's vehicle workshop lets you upgrade certain getaway vehicles; and the security upgrade reduces the wanted level during the getaway.

How much does the Kortz Center Heist pay?

The payout system rewards one clean run per week rather than looping the grind. The first sale of a painting after the Thursday reset pays full price; all further sales that week drop to roughly a quarter of the value. The amount is locked in at the moment of sale, not when the preps are launched. Rockstar also rotates three different paintings each week.

The Last Dalliance is the target of the very first, scripted run: Mr. Faber demands this specific painting, in the style of Madrazo's contracts at Cayo Perico, and selling it is mandatory. Subsequent paintings can either be sold or kept: four display spots are available in the villa, and two rewards ("Private Collection", "Masterpiece" in Career Progress) reward collectors. Watch out for fees: the first setup after the weekly reset is free, but each additional plan afterwards costs GTA$100,000.

The secondary loot scouted amounts to between GTA$2.3 and 2.68 million depending on the week, but a solo player can only carry one bag: when playing solo, prioritize the highest-value items, and save four-player runs for clearing out the museum. Finally, don't forget the one-time bonuses: GTA$200,000 for the first successful heist, GTA$100,000 for the first successful solo run, GTA$100,000 for a first full four-player run, and GTA$200,000 for a first Hard Mode finale completed without a single death.

Elite Challenge and Art Buyer Request: The Most Technical GTA$100,000

The elite challenge imposes four conditions in a single finale run: finish in under 17 minutes, maintain over 90% shooting accuracy, limit bag value loss to under GTA$15,000, and complete the art buyer request — a random list of items marked with a gold icon instead of the white one. The payout reaches GTA$50,000 on normal and GTA$100,000 on hard, and the art buyer request pays the same amounts as a bonus.

A trap awaits solo players: the Crisp Gallery, on level 2 of the exhibition, only opens for two players. If an art buyer request item appears there, the bonus — and thus the elite challenge — becomes mathematically impossible in solo on that cycle. Check the list before committing to the finale; if a required item is locked behind this room, play the run for the leaderboard and try the elite challenge again next cycle, or invite a second player.

For the most reliable solo route: enter through the staff entrance with the badge, favor a weapon loadout equipped with a stun gun to temporarily disable the cameras, and choose the stealth Annihilator as your getaway vehicle — its automated piloting eliminates the risk of crashing, but budget two to three minutes of flight time within your 17-minute window.

Where to start this weekend

If you don't have the art studio, first join an equipped host's heist to learn the map without spending anything. If you're equipped, proceed in this order: the scripted The Last Dose run to pocket GTA$1,925,000, then settle into a pace of one run per week, launched right after the Thursday reset, on hard mode with the full art buyer request. Save the extra runs, paid at a quarter rate, for side objectives: testing all four entry points, filling out your personal gallery, and advancing the four tiers of Career Progress, the last of which unlocks the armored Vapid Caracara, GTA$250,000, and 10,000 RP.