From the January issue: Just when it seemed like New York City had gotten past the string of brokerage closures that occurred early in the downturn, an abrupt shift in market conditions has led to a second round of shutdowns.But this time those closures are being offset with openings of new firms amid a general realignment of the city’s brokerage world.The most recent repositioning closely mirrors the new market landscape. In early 2009, the sales market was largely frozen, especially on the luxury end. In response, both large and small firms closed their offices. Several agencies shuttered entirely, including some with reputations for higher-end sales, like Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy and JC DeNiro. But as the market began its slow recovery, the closures stopped, and brokerages began renting new office space again. [more]

From the July issue: The shuttering of several New York real estate brokerages, including
Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy and JC DeNiro & Associates, has set in
motion a game of musical chairs among brokers. While some agents are
still scrambling for their next jobs, many seem to have quickly landed
seats — even if the transition has been a bit hectic. “It’s a
very discombobulating time,” said Armanda Squadrilli, who is now a
senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman after an
eight-month stint at Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, which shuttered in
May. For two years prior to that she worked at JC DeNiro, which closed
in April.

Mid-sized Manhattan-based brokerage firm MLBKaye International Realty
is taking a gamble on new storefront offices in the midst of a
downturn. The family-owned company, which is looking to double in size, has
opened a new office at 38 West 8th Street between Fifth and Sixth
avenues, according to Marilyn Harra Kaye, the firm’s president. The new
office is approximately 500 square feet and boasts double windows
overlooking 8th Street, which are perfect for posting real estate
listings, she said. The new location brings the firm’s total number of offices to three.
Other branches include executive offices at 641 Lexington Avenue at
55th Street and a storefront location at 1067 Park Avenue between 88th
and 87th streets. [more]

From the May issue: Brokers famously sell the mantra of
location, location, location. But when it comes to their own offices,
that refrain may be changing. During the boom times, real estate
companies large and small rushed to open glittering storefront offices,
like Halstead Property’s mammoth 408 Columbus Avenue office across from
the Museum of Natural History, or the Tribeca office that Brown Harris
Stevens has on the ground floor of a 19th-century Romanesque Revival
building. The hope was to stake out their turf in prime neighborhoods
while attracting passersby. But New York’s housing slump has prompted
the rapid closing of some real estate offices, as firms seek to cut
costs, and the opening of others, as they seek to take advantage of
falling rents to gobble up new territory. And while closing an office
inevitably means ceding territory to competitors, with real estate
sales down nearly 50 percent from last year according to a quarterly
market report by Prudential Douglas Elliman, satellite offices are a
luxury many firms can no longer afford. [more]

Left to right, Barbara Fox of Fox Residential Group, Jed Garfield of Leslie J. Garfield & Co. and Michele Kleier of Gumley Haft Kleier.

From the May issue: A precipitous drop in sales like Manhattan
saw in the first quarter of 2009 can be particularly challenging for
boutique real estate firms. That became painfully clear this year when
a number of small firms went out of business, including several newer
boutiques just starting to make their presence felt on the New York
City real estate industry, like JC DeNiro & Associates, Homestead
New York and New York City Dwellers. Other firms with longer track
records, like venerable Edward Lee Cave, were absorbed by larger
companies. But there are smaller firms that are still surviving, and
even thriving, in the current market, most notably the three that
ranked at the top of The Real Deal’s survey of boutique Manhattan firms
– Leslie J. Garfield & Co., Gumley Haft Kleier and Fox Residential
Group. [more]

Left to right: Jack DeNiro, JC DeNiro’s Chelsea office, Christopher Mathieson

New details of JC DeNiro’s recent closure are emerging. Amidst an ugly legal battle between the two founders, the brokerage ran short of cash and was being evicted from its Chelsea office by the time the company’s closure was announced. JC DeNiro failed to pay March or April rent for its 1,100-square-foot office at 174-A Ninth Avenue at 21st Street, according to the building’s owner, Charles Coutinho, who said he began the process of evicting the six-year-old boutique real estate firm in late March. [more]