Ex-City Connections agent grows new firm

The RA team, from left: Arthur Vinuelas, LaQuet Pringle, Kelly Armendariz, Christine Ra, Sam Cahn and Stephan Watts
The RA team, from left: Arthur Vinuelas, LaQuet Pringle, Kelly Armendariz, Christine Ra, Sam Cahn and Stephan Watts

RA Partners NY, a full-service brokerage that launched last year, moved to a bigger office in June. The firm opened in September with three agents, and has grown to five. Two more are slated to come on board this month.

Located at 3 Columbus Circle, the new office has room for seven desks; RA Partners’ previous space, nearby at 1745 Broadway, held three desks.

RA Partners President Christine Ra, a City Connections alum, said she plans to employ a dozen or so agents by year’s end.

“We don’t want to be the average brokerage,” said Ra, who has a buyer-side focus. “We want to strive to offer clients a level of connectivity and a breadth of life experience that they know we’re people, we’re multi-dimensional. We’re not just about selling properties.”

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Ra, who had worked for the past four years as a licensed salesperson at City Connections, decided to start her own firm after feeling the pull of entrepreneurship.

RA Partners started with residential rentals, added sales and eventually tacked on commercial listings. Ra is now working with a client on bidding for a space at the World Trade Center, for example.

Her firm even has an international presence: RA Partners is authorized to bring New York City buyers to a collection of luxury properties in Grenada.