From left: Mort Zuckerman, Susan Breitenbach, Aby Rosen and Billy Macklowe
From Apollo Global Management head Leon Black to Boston Properties boss Mort Zuckerman, the New York City real estate industry is a critical component to the East End scene. In fact, no fewer than 14 of the 100 most powerful people to descend upon the Hamptons this summer, as compiled by Hamptons magazine, are members of the industry. [more]
[Updated at 5:30 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Sept. 12] Top-rated sales teams at Richard Smith’s Realogy empire include the Corcoran Group’s Carrie Chiang and Sharon Baum, both in Manhattan, according to a study by the Wall Street Journal and Real Trends, released yesterday.
Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty in Southampton and Susan Breitenbach of Corcoran in Bridgehampton both ranked highly as individual sales agents.
Breitenbach recently cleaned up at Corcoran’s 2010 East End awards, taking the prize for top sales agent by volume as well as by number of units sold. In fact, based on annual 2010 sales volume, 39 percent of the nation’s top 1,000 real estate agents are affiliated with Smith’s Realogy brands, the study shows. – Katherine Clarke [more]
Stuart ElliottFrom the June issue: It’s that time of year again — time to escape the city and head to the beach. Time to trade your pumps and wingtips for flip-flops and sandals. Time to trade fluorescent office lighting for the sun beating down on your back. Time to reserve lunch tables for lobster roll shacks, get pieces of corn stuck between your teeth, and wash it all down with a beer.
With summer season in the Hamptons kicking into gear, we thought, “What better time to take a look at the biggest firms and priciest deals on the East End?”
Unlike those caught up in the migration from Manhattan, it hasn’t been vacation time for top agents out there on Long Island. In an improving market, they’ve been listing and closing deals with big seven- and eight-figure price tags. [more]
Prudential Douglas Elliman has sued Hamptons competitor Saunders & Assoociates (see complaint below) for allegedly concocting a “cyberpiracy” scheme to divert potential clients to its site, according to Newsday. Elliman claims that Saunders illegally registered several internet domain names related to Elliman’s business in an attempt to steal Elliman customers away.
Elliman is seeking damages and a court order forbidding Saunders from “engaging in any further malicious and anti-commercial activity directed at plaintiff, including the registration of any Internet domain names associated with plaintiff,” according to the filing.
Saunders is also accused of stealing the identities of some well-known Elliman brokers so that any customers searching for that agent exclusively would be automatically directed to Saunders’ website, Crain’s reported.
“This is an action seeking to reveal a gross violation of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s proprietary rights through the sly and dishonest registration of domain names by Saunders & Associates,” said Stanley Arkin of the law firm of Arkin Kaplan Rice, who represents Elliman, in a statement.
Andrew Saunders, founder and president of Saunders, denied the charges, saying the firm did not own any of these domain names, to his knowledge. “If we did own names that are inappropriate, we will give them back immediately,” he said.
This is not the first accusation of foul play for Saunders, who paid $12.17 for the domain name SusanBreitenbach.com and automatically set it up to redirect to SaundersRE.com back in May. Susan Breitenbach is a successful Corcoran broker. [Crain's and Newsday]
PDE Saunders Summons Complaint [more]
Poor Susan Breitenbach. The Corcoran Group broker, who, along with her son Matthew, sold more than $210 million worth of East End real estate last year, has been waiting for years to buy her domain name, but it was always registered to someone trying to squeeze thousands of dollars out of a sale. Then, just when SusanBreitenbach.com became available, it was scooped up from under her nose by none other than competitor Andrew Saunders of Saunders Real Estate, who paid $12.17 for the page and automatically set it up to redirect to SaundersRE.com. According to Curbed, Corcoran attorneys just busted Saunders for his “sleazy” Web strategy, which may not actually be illegal but is certainly, as Saunders put it, “very aggressive.” [more]
Talent manager Sandy Gallin has unloaded his 14-acre Bridgehampton estate for $17.5 million, or 45 percent off of its original, $32 million asking price in September 2009, according to Curbed. Gallin, whose celebrity client roster has included Michael Jackson and Barbara Streisand over the course of his career, had dubbed the property — the combination of three lots, including a pond, pool and 6,500-square-foot house — “Serenity.” Madonna was at one point rumored to be the buyer, but Bill Williams, vice president at Sotheby’s, now confirms that it was actually Matt Coffin, of lowermybills.com fame and fortune, and his wife, Los Angeles designer and one-time Wilhelmina Models president Natasha Esch, who were brought in by Sotheby’s broker Rylan Jacka and triumphed in a “bidding war.” [more]
Advertising bigwig Donny Deutsch has signed a contract to buy the Bridgehampton mansion that belongs to former Lehman Brothers President Joe Gregory, who has been trying to sell the property since he resigned and his company filed for bankruptcy in 2008. According to the Post, Deutsch is set to pay around $20 million for the 9,500-square-foot mansion, which sits on 2.5 acres on Ocean Road and was originally listed for
$32.5 million.
[more]
Equinox fitness clubs co-founder Vito Errico has sold his Bridgehampton home for $17.5 million, according to Newsday. Errico, who started his successful gym chain with his brother, Danny, sold the 8,000-square-foot home to 713 Ocean Road LLC. The eight-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom house sits on a six-acre property that includes an infinity edge pool and a tennis court. The property was listed by the Corcoran Group’s Susan Breitenbach and Matthew Breitenbach. [Newsday] [more]
Susan Breitenbach cleaned up at the Corcoran Group’s 2010 East End awards last week, taking the prize for top sales agent by volume as well as by number of units sold. Breitenbach was also the top producing agent in one of Corcoran’s two Bridgehampton offices, while sharing the prize for South Fork Deal of the Year with son Matt Breitenbach and the Cee Scott Brown and Jack Pearson team. That team was named the top East End sales group, while Zachary Vichinsky took home the Rookie of the Year award. TRD
Andrew Farkas is looking to make a profit on the bayfront Southampton home he’s owned for the past six years. The developer, who purchased the 10-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bathroom mansion on Mullen Hill Lane for $5.4 million in 2004, has put it back on the market for nearly double. Now listed for $9.995 million, the home has a gated entrance, pool, tennis court, private beach, two spas and two cabanas. Farkas owns companies Insignia and Island Capital as well as the Montauk Yacht Club nearby. The Corcoran Group’s Susan Breitenbach has the listing. [Post]
