In a move to expand its presence in the turbulent East End real estate market, Nest Seekers International has acquired the former Southampton-based real estate flagship of German brokerage Engel & Volkers, The Real Deal has learned.

Engel & Volkers, based in Hamburg, Germany, originally launched the Southampton franchise location in 2006 as its North American flagship and later expanded into Scarsdale as well as a number of other franchise offices in Florida, Boston and other parts of the country.

Jonathan Lerner, president of EV Scarsdale, which operated the Engel & Volkers franchise in New York, confirmed that company sold the physical assets to Nest Seekers and is in talks on a potential new franchise to operate under a different brokerage flag.

“We will be rebranding,” he said. [more]

Maurice Mann’s condominium conversion at 36 Gramercy Park East has crossed the 50 percent sold mark, with 19 of the 30 units available for sale in the building now either closed or in contract, according to Nest Seekers International, which is marketing the project. (The building has 51 units in total, but some are still occupied by rent-stabilized tenants.) Sales launched just under a year ago, and in March, the brokerage team increased prices by as much as 23 percent in response to what it described as high demand for the homes. Prices for the remaining units range from $1.325 million for one-bedrooms to $5.895 million for three-bedrooms. TRD [more]

From left: Modern Spaces CEO Eric Benaim, the View and Nest Seekers CEO Eddie Shapiro

TF Cornerstone has tapped Modern Spaces to replace Nest Seekers and exclusively sell the approximately 70 condominium units remaining at the View on 4630 Center Boulevard in Long Island City. The 18-story, 184-unit condo surpassed the 50 percent sold mark in early February, and reported closing approximately 11 units per month. Based on the 60 percent figure the View now reports, Nest Seekers had not veered far from that pace in the last two months. TF Cornerstone declined to comment on the switch and Nest Seekers did not immediately return calls for comment. TRD [more]

From left: Nest Seeker’s CEO Eddie Shapiro and REBNY President Steven Spinola

In an unusual move, the Real Estate Board of New York sent a mass e-mail to more than 500 members notifying them that the trade group had fined the residential brokerage Nest Seekers International $5,000 for laying claim to another broker’s exclusive listing.

Several residential real estate insiders said it was the first time they had received a mass e-mail from REBNY notifying them publicly about a punishment. But at the same time, they said Nest Seekers was deserving of a sanction because it has often improperly put other firm’s exclusives on its own site.

REBNY, the city’s leading real estate trade organization, sent the notice of the fine yesterday afternoon to residential brokers. [more]

From left: David Tobon, Alon Chadad, Moshe Balalo, Andy Kim and Michael Arcos of the firm Blu

In the wake of two major brokerage launches — Citi Habitats founder Andrew Heiberger’s Town Residential and Prudential Douglas Elliman veteran Ilan Bracha’s Manhattan Keller Williams franchise — another company has joined the pack.

Five Nest Seekers alumni have launched a new residential real estate firm, Blu Realty Group. The new firm, launched today, was formed by Andy Kim, David Tobon and Michael Arcos — who left Nest Seekers this past Friday, according to a Blu spokesperson — and Alon Chadad and Moshe Balalo, who left Nest Seekers in July 2010 and have been with Bracha’s Bracha Group, which opened the Keller Williams franchise earlier this month, since that time. [more]

Agent Adrian Noriega has left the Corcoran Group to join the boutique brokerage Core. In 2009 and 2010, Noriega was named among the top 2 percent of agents at Corcoran in sales, Core said. Noriega will join the company as vice president, Core announced. In the past few months, Core has lost a number of its top agents. Frederik Eklund and John Gomes recently said they were joining Elliman to appear on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing” reality show, which competes against HGTV’s “Selling New York,” a real estate brokerage-related reality show that features Core agents. Agent Caroline Grane left Core for Nest Seekers, also with plans to participate in “Million Dollar Listing.”
Core in December hired top Prudential Douglas Elliman agent Doron Zwickel. TRD

From left: Nest Seekers CEO Eddie Shapiro and new hire Caroline Grane

Boutique brokerage Nest Seekers International is planning a hiring spree on the heels of what it says was its “most profitable year ever” in 2010, CEO Eddie Shapiro announced today.

The New York City-based company — whose exclusive new development marketing contracts include the Residences at 36 Gramercy Park East, 99 John Deco Lofts and the View in Long Island City — has already hired some 15 new brokers over the past few months and is planning to take on 20 more in the months to come. TRD [more]

Nest Seeker’s agent Sabrina Seidner, who is marketing the condo at 314 West 100th Street

The last two available apartments at the 33-unit boutique condominium at 314 West 100th Street are now in contract. The building, located between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue, has been on the market since 2007, first being handled by the Corcoran Group, according to a spokesperson for Nest Seekers International, which began marketing the building in early 2010. The condo, built in 1936, recently underwent a complete renovation, while also retaining the original floors, doors and other fixtures. TRD [more]

Caroline Grane and Michael Lorber
Bravo’s New York City version of “Million Dollar Listing” begins shooting today, and the Post has more gossip about what is to be expected come next fall, when the show will premiere. As might be expected, the network that brought us the “Real Housewives” plans to distinguish its version of realty reality television from HGTV’s popular “Selling New York” by focusing on “strong, contrasting personalities who travel in the same circle… and who clash whenever things threaten to get too boring,” rather than on the properties themselves. In that vein, Core broker Caroline Grane has just jumped ship to Nest Seekers International to join the “Listings” cast. [more]

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]