C21 replaces head of sales with someone who has “more potential” to draw agents

From left: Marc Lewis, Marc Windheuser and Jorden Tepper

Former Prudential Douglas Elliman associate broker Marc Windheuser has been tapped to manage sales at Century 21 NY Metro, the firm announced today, in an effort to grow the company’s sales ranks.

Windheuser, who managed his own sales team, the Windheuser Group, at Elliman, will replace Jorden Tepper, who has been with the company for two years and whose future with Century 21 is uncertain at this time.

Marc Lewis, president and CEO of Century 21, said that Tepper’s job performance was not a factor in his removal as sales director, and noted that attracting more sales agents was his main goal in the management switcheroo.

“Jorden is very good at what he did but I had more potential with [Windheuser], who can attract great agents,” Lewis said. “When somebody great comes around, you find a way to hire them and bring them into your team.”

Both Lewis and Windheuser said they hoped Tepper would stay on with Century 21.

Tepper did not respond to requests for comment.

When he officially starts work Nov. 1, Windheuser said his main goal will be to double Century 21’s roster of agents to 300.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Windheuser said, “but I don’t intend on being there for just a couple months.”

The company has mounted a considerable expansion effort over the last year. In March, Lewis announced that his firm was moving to a new, 13,000-square-foot office at 228 East 45th Street between Second and Third avenues. The new office is 40 percent larger than the previous location at 475 Madison Avenue, Lewis said then, and can hold up to 200 people. Century 21 launched its own virtual office website, or “VOW,” in July.

Windheuser, whose previous residential group at Elliman included four full-time agents and one part-timer, will bring one of his team members with him to Century 21. He said “other people” in his sales team “will probably explore” coming to Century 21 “down the road.” Windheuser previously worked out of Midtown and Bayside while at Elliman, and showed apartments in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Long Island.

Windheuser’s experience in myriad markets was among his selling points, according to Lewis, who said that hiring Windheuser was the fruition of a two-year-long campaign to get him on board at Century 21.

“What attracted me to him is his Tony Robbins-like attitude,” Lewis said. “I was looking for someone who… has a lot of friends in the industry.”