After a two-month stretch at Core as a senior vice president and associate broker, Ivana Tagliamonte has gone back to Halstead Property.

She is an executive vice president at the village office, according to a press release from Halstead. A specialist in Gramercy and Downtown, Tagliamonte had the highest sales volume in the village office in 2008. Tagliamonte, who has more than a decade of real estate experience, who often works with domestic and
international clients as a certified senior relocation agent.
— Lauren Elkies [more]

From left: Shaun Osher, CEO of Core, and Reba Miller, the new managing director of sales for Core

Shaun Osher’s Core has acquired residential real estate brokerage R.P. Miller & Associates, a firm founded by industry stalwart Reba Miller in 1998, Core told The Real Deal today. Miller will take the role of managing director of sales at Core, the company said, overseeing the firm’s agents and resale business.

Osher confirmed that Miller would be bringing a few “select” members of her team at R.P. Miller & Associates to Core; “less than 10,” he said, declining to reveal their names. Susan Rubell, an agent at Miller’s namesake company based at 115 East 57th Street, said she and Lee Frankel would be joining Core, effective next week, but said she could not speak for anyone else. It was not immediately clear how many brokers R.P. Miller & Associates has in total, but the state Department of State’s website shows four licensed brokers in total.
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Residential sales and rental brokerage Core launched an online listing and client management platform in collaboration with listings website Streeteasy.com today, dubbed Core Control, the brokerage announced (see video above for commentary about Core Control from the two companies’ heads).

For an undisclosed monthly fee to Streeteasy.com, the system is available free and exclusively to Core’s agents and clients to help them more easily navigate citywide listings from all firms.

Core described the platform as a comprehensive database of citywide listings from all brokerages represented on Streeteasy.com, with a few additional features added on, including the ability for Core agents to add private and public notes to a listing, link press coverage to properties and view broker-only information on listings, such as commissions and listing expiration dates.  [more]

Josh GubermanFrom the September issue: Core Development Group CEO Josh Guberman and Shaun Osher, founder of the brokerage Core, have a running, if obvious, joke: Who used the “Core” moniker first?
The banter started several years ago, while the two were working together on Guberman’s last Manhattan development, Lux 74. But the joke has become less funny recently as the confusion between the two firms has grown. So Guberman, who will soon be marketing a new Hamptons project, has changed his company’s name to the Guberman Group.
“Shaun runs a marketing brand, and I build buildings,” said Guberman, who has been a developer in New York City for 15 years. He said he initially chose the name “Core” because he liked its strong connotation, but with both firms working hard to build their brands, the confusion was getting in the way. [more]

From left: Trump Organization Chairman and President Donald Trump, Naftali Group CEO Miki Naftali and Jones Lang LaSalle President of New York operations Peter Riguardi

September marks The Real Deal’s 100th magazine issue (to be posted online tomorrow). In it, we will be bringing you some of the stories that made the biggest impact on us and on the market. In the meantime, here is what some industry execs have to say about The Real Deal’s magazine milestone as well as about what The Real Deal has meant to them in the publication’s eight-year existence. For example, Donald Trump, chairman and president of the Trump Organization, said: “The Real Deal has become more comprehensive in its coverage of the real estate industry in New York City and it has also become a valuable source of information. The Real Deal has done a terrific job.” Compiled by Lauren Elkies

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From left: Core CEO Shaun Osher, Centaur Properties CEO Harlan Berger and 305 West 16th Street

The cond-op at 305 West 16th Street in Chelsea, known for the 5,385-pound daisy sculpture atop its seven stories, is more than 50 percent in contract and closed its first unit today, Centaur Properties CEO
Harlan Berger said.

Since sales launched June 1, 29 units in the 53-unit building at Eighth Avenue have entered
into contract, including two yesterday, Berger said, and eight units should close this week. He expects to close 51
percent of the units by the end of September to secure Fannie Mae financing, which
he called “critical” to the sales effort for the second half of the building’s units. [more]

Lawrence Rich has left his post as a vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman to become a senior vice president at Core, effective today, Core announced.

After 25 years running a clothing manufacturing business, Rich joined Elliman in 2004. He told The Real Deal that he enjoyed his seven years with the firm, and even foresaw himself remaining with it through retirement, but recently decided he “needed to take a next step.”

Following a lengthy decision process, Rich settled on Core after being impressed by CEO Shaun Osher and what Rich calls the youthful, modern culture he’s given the smaller firm.

“Elliman tries to have as many brokers as they can,” Rich said. “Core has a different culture, it’s more selective and I see myself fitting in well with their team.” – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Behold the second-floor loft at 120 West 29th Street, the
steampunk-inspired co-op that hit the market last week for $1.75
million (see photos above by Derek Zahedi). The steampunk movement — whose followers dress the part –
pays homage to an aesthetic that’s part Victorian, part science
fiction. Or, as the listing by Core broker Parul Brahmbhatt puts it,
“retro-futuristic fantasy…with a Jules Verne meets Tim Burton
sensibility.”

Last night, steampunkers, HGTV camera crews and other curious
observers gathered at an open house at the space, which is decked out
with a variety of unusual creations: a living room-sized, neon-lit
model of the Hindenburg blimp, a Murphy bed controlled by a
skateboard-anchored pulley system, a submarine-style front door. The
steampunkers were invited by an artist who goes by “Doctor Grymm.” He
was there promoting his latest book, “1000 Steampunk Creations,” and
brought along a six-foot-tall, steam-producing navigation system that
gives directions in a voice that purports to be that of Amelia
Earhart. [more]

Stuart Elliott

From the May issue: The Real Deal is firing up the klieg lights and rolling out the red carpet.
This month will see the premiere of our first full-length documentary feature film. Called “Building Stories,” it’s a look at the most prolific architect in New York City, Costas Kondylis, who has added an incredible 86 towers to the skyline here but is a relative unknown to the average man on the street.
The film, which features interviews with real estate bigwigs like Donald Trump, Larry Silverstein, Richard Meier, Aby Rosen and many others, will be screened as part of an invite-only event May 11 at the Morgan Library in Midtown. Later this month, check out our website for more information about the film’s public release date. [more]

Jeffrey Levine of Douglaston Development talks to Core’s Shaun Osher about his life as a developer and the Edge, the developer’s North Williamsburg waterfront condominium complex, in the video above. Levine says in the last six months, over 120 apartments have sold at the project, which the Developers Group has marketed since inception. The Real Deal reported in the beginning of the month that 165 units of the two buildings’ combined 565 residences, or 30 percent, have closed thus far, and over 100 more are in contract. The Woolworth Building, Levine tells Osher, is his favorite building in the world. [more]