Domain downsizes, but stays in business

Fans of Domain Properties will be happy to hear that the boutique brokerage hasn’t closed, despite rumors to the contrary.

The real estate company has simply moved, albeit to a 90 percent smaller space, from its ground-floor, 5,000-square-foot office on the corner of 25th Street and Broadway, according to CEO Haim Yagen.

In a climate where many real estate firms are closing branches to save money, Domain’s pre-New Year move to the new 500-square-foot space on the second floor at 234 Fifth Avenue, at 27th Street, was an attempt to cut costs, Yagen said.

“Rents are very high and the market is very [slow],” he said. “Now is the time to shrink.”

The five-year-old company has residential and commercial listings in New York City and abroad. The company represented a buyer in the June 2008 sale of a 6,100-square-foot mixed-used building at 318 East 62nd Street, for $3.9 million.

The new office fits only about 15 of the company’s 25 agents, Yagen said, and the rest are working from home or sharing desks.

Yagen said that while the company has attempted to notify all of its clients and business partners, he’s received at least one confused phone call asking if the business had closed. The company’s phone numbers are the same, he said.

Earlier this week, The Real Deal reported that massive rental brokerage firm Citi Habitats has shuttered two of its offices and boutique brokerage Homestead New York has ceased operations.