Core to open retail office on UES

Boutique brokerage Core is set to open its second Manhattan retail location, this one on the Upper East Side, a company spokesperson told The Real Deal today.

The firm, which was recently ranked by TRD as the city’s top boutique brokerage based on the value of listings, has inked a 10-year lease for a 3,500-square-foot office at 673 Madison Avenue that will open next spring, the spokesperson said. A gut renovation of the place will begin this fall.

The retail office will occupy the second and third floors of a historic brownstone between 61st and 62nd streets. Jewelry brand Judith Ripka operates a boutique store on the ground floor of the building.

“Jack [Cayre] and I are extremely excited to continue to grow our luxury boutique brand,” Core CEO Shaun Osher said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how many agents will be working out of the new office, though Core’s Reba Miller will be heading operations at the location with Osher. The firm will be making a number of additional hires to fill the space, a spokesperson said.

The brokerage currently has one other storefront office, at 127 Seventh Avenue between 17th and 18th streets, which it opened in the midst of the financial crisis in 2009. Meanwhile, its headquarters are at 104 Fifth Avenue. Cayre previously claimed that Core’s Chelsea office was “one of the most profitable brokerage offices in the country.”

Core beat out Upper East Side brokerage Leslie J. Garfield & Co. this year to earn the title of the city’s top boutique firm in an annual ranking by The Real Deal. It was the first time the firm had garnered the top spot since The Real Deal began ranking firms in 2009. The firm currently has 52 agents.