From the May issue: A year ago this month, New York’s real estate community experienced one of the darker moments of the recession when Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy — one of the city’s largest and most established firms — announced it would close. However, CBHK turned out to be the only major firm that disappeared. Business, meanwhile, has steadily improved for months. “New York has had a very good rebound,” said Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group. [more]
The year 2009 was a trying time to be a real estate broker, developer or investor, but it never lacked for news. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the industry watched in awe — and sometimes horror — as residential sales ground to a virtual halt, condo projects stopped in their tracks, office rents shrank and retail stores disappeared. Buyers at buildings like 22 Renwick sued to get out of their contracts, and some were granted the opportunity to back out of their contracts. Meanwhile, an amazing cast of characters — from Kent Swig to Harry Macklowe to Lev Leviev — publicly fought for survival. There were also glimmers of hope, from the opening of the High Line in June to the expansion of Halstead Property into Connecticut to the sale of Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld’s sale 16-room co-op apartment at 640 Park Avenue for $25.87 million, almost $5 million more than he bought it for two years ago. Click here to see The Real Deal staff’s picks for the stories that most altered the New York City real estate landscape in 2009. [more]
When a broker switches firms, mailing out glossy announcement cards is the easy part. What’s not so simple is wresting listings away from the old firm to bring them to the new one. The armor-plated contracts that govern exclusive listings threaten sellers with punitive fees or lawsuits if they try to pick up and follow a relocating broker.
But the recent shuttering of several New York firms has shaken loose hundreds of listings, in a whirlwind that few have seen in years, brokers say.
“There have definitely been a lot of listings in play that otherwise wouldn’t be. It’s very unusual,” said Michael De Rosa, a senior vice president at Halstead Property who joined the firm in June after Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy closed. more
Stan Ponte, a former manager at now-defunct Coldwell Banker Hunt
Kennedy, has joined Sotheby’s International Realty as a senior vice
president. “I’m back, and I’m selling,” said Ponte, who worked at Stribling & Associates for 10 years before becoming president of the Manhattan division of the luxury marketing division Coldwell Banker Previews International. Former Coldwell sales agent Robin Reardon has joined him at Sotheby’s, as well as an assistant, Christina Jurado. [more]
In the wake of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy’s closure, many of the
firm’s former agents have joined the competition rather than staying
within the Realogy family. Halstead Property nabbed 27 former
CBHK agents, while its sister company, Brown Harris Stevens, hired
four, according to spokespeople at the two companies. Meanwhile,
Prudential Douglas Elliman snagged 22 agents from the
independently-owned Coldwell Banker franchise, founded in 1988. Charles
Rutenberg Realty in New york also hired several agents. That alone
represents roughly a quarter of the agents at CBHK, which had 214
agents at the time it closed. That means that at the most, only 73
percent of CBHK’s agents went to Realogy brands the Corcoran Group and
Sotheby’s International Realty. more
Bond’s Bruno Ricciotti and 64 W. 21st St.
Bond New York is taking over at least one of the offices previously occupied by Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, and may lease another one as well. The residential brokerage signed a lease yesterday for three floors in a townhouse in the Flatiron District at 64 West 21st Street, a space occupied by CBHK until the company closed in May. The 2,500-square-foot space, located between Fifth and Sixth avenues, has a deck and backyard and fits 35 desks, according to Bruno Ricciotti, a principal at Bond New York. [more]
From the June issue: Just when things appeared to be looking up for the New York City real
estate market, the industry was hit with shocking news: Coldwell Banker
Hunt Kennedy would close its doors. The fate of CBHK remains unclear [note: since the article ran, The Real Deal learned that the company is closing up shop]. But one thing is certain: Now that traffic seems to be
reviving somewhat in the normally busy early summer market, brokers are
scrambling to make up for this winter’s very slow months by doing as
many deals as possible. And as the demise of CBHK shows, many may find
that isn’t enough to put them on par with what they’ve earned in the
past.
The owners of soon-to-be shuttered brokerage Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy bid a
tear-soaked farewell to agents and well-wishers yesterday during a
goodbye party at the company’s headquarters on the 12th floor of 555
Madison Avenue. Eyes brimming with tears, company co-founder and COO JoAnne Kennedy said she was proud of her agents and the two-decade-old company. “We’ve made a very positive difference in New York City real estate,” said Kennedy, who will start work at the Corcoran Group next week. She and co-founder David Michonski, the company’s CEO, spoke of how they sought to uphold high ethical standards and put their customers
first. [more]
The Real Deal looks at the demise of CBHK and where its agents will go after the firm shutters its doors.
[more]
While Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy brokers expressed concerns about what will happen to their listings and commissions with the company closing, sources confirmed that JoAnne Kennedy and the majority of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy agents will move to the Corcoran Group, though Corcoran has said it has no formal agreement with the soon-to-be-defunct brokerage. “Nearly all” of the current Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy agents are moving to Corcoran, said Philip Kiracofe, chief technologist at Coldwell Banker Previews International, CBHK’s luxury home marketing arm, who is “overseeing the transition.” Corcoran and CBHK share ties to New Jersey-based Realogy Corporation. A source, who asked for anonymity, said all brokers have been told the four CBHK offices will be closed by June 5. [more]
