Elliman opens second Riverdale location

[Updated at 5:30 p.m. with comments from Elliman CEO Dottie Herman and Charles Brophy]

Prudential Douglas Elliman marked the grand opening of its second Riverdale office, a two-level space located at 6048 Riverdale Avenue at West 261st Street, with a ribbon cutting last week, home to residential firm Charles G. Brophy Real Estate, with whom Elliman merged in September 2011. The office has been operating under the Elliman name since the merger.

A total of eight agents currently work in the office, said Charles Brophy, the office’s new executive vice president and former head of Charles G. Brophy Real Estate, and the plan is to hire up to 25. The office spans 500 square feet on the street level and 700 on the second level. Only one agent from Brophy’s former firm crossed over, five Elliman agents previously with other offices made the move to the new Riverdale office and two others were recruited from other firms. An Elliman spokesperson said that John Lawrence and Jeff Rothstein, current Elliman managers, will oversee the new Riverdale location.

Brophy said that he decided to merge with Elliman to grow his Riverdale business. Previously, his firm covered neighborhoods throughout the Bronx and lower Westchester. He said there’s already been an uptick in business for him under the Elliman name.

“It’s growing daily,” he said.

As The Real Deal previously reported, Elliman merged with John Edwards Real Estate in the fall of 2010 to open its first Riverdale office. Elliman also recently announced another outer borough opening in Long Island City, which The Real Deal also reported.

The reason for another office in Riverdale, according to Elliman President and CEO Dottie Herman, is that the first Riverdale office is in a different part of the Riverdale neighborhood, and that the first office was small. She said she had agents who wanted to work in Riverdale, so it was a good idea to open a second location.  — Katherine Clarke and Zachary Kussin