Urban Compass nabs two teams from BHS, Corcoran

A top-performing broker team from Brown Harris Stevens, along with a five-member team from the Corcoran Group, are the latest catches for real estate brokerage startup Urban Compass.

Julia Hoagland – whose team was the top producing group at Brown Harris Stevens’ Park Avenue office last year – has moved to the firm, effective today, along with her Modern Luxury Living Partnership. The group includes Katie Spencer, Hannah Bowling, Johanna Manuel and Adrian Peskin.

Hoagland spent five years at Brown Harris Stevens, which she joined from Corcoran. The group currently has 16 exclusives, totaling more than $47 million.

Separately, Urban Compass also recruited Howard Spiegelman and Tim Rothman’s five-person team from the Corcoran Group. The Spiegelman-Rothman group, which closed $100 million in sales in 2012 and 2013, also includes Sung Cho, Nicole Dayon and Adam Melnick.

The group is bringing 13 exclusives totaling nearly $20 million to the firm. The group also has signed contracts at CIM Group and Macklowe Properties’ 432 Park Avenue, Alexico Group’s 56 Leonard and the Rudin family’s Greenwich Lane.

“The thought process for us was to find new ways to expand our business in a way that Urban Compass is moving toward – a technology-driven website based around their agents,” Rothman told The Real Deal.

In recent months, Urban Compass picked up the Litvak Team from Citi Habitats, as well as three teams from Corcoran, including the LaChance team, led by Debra and Denise LaChance. In September, the firm announced it would expand to Park Avenue’s Lever House to accommodate its 77 staffers and 107 agents. Urban Compass is also doubling its space at 90 Fifth Avenue, where it will now take up 50,000 square feet on floors three through six, the Commercial Observer reported today.

All told, Urban Compass now has 127 active sales exclusives totaling $594.38 million, according to the firm.