Hello Halstead, goodbye Coldwell Banker at Strivers West

After about a year on the market and 75 percent of the units sold by Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, BRP Development Corporation wanted “a new look” for its Strivers West project, said Julian Duggin, project manager at BRP. It turned to Halstead Property Development Marketing to sell the remaining five condo units.

Switching marketing teams mid-project has become commonplace recently as developers look for ways to drum up sales in a slow market.

BRP auditioned four or five brokers to take over sales at the 20-unit project at 2601 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem, Duggin said. Units range from 900 to 1,463 square feet and are priced between $499,000 and $795,000.

Stephen Kliegerman, executive director of development marketing at Halstead, said he thought the developer switched to his firm because Coldwell wasn’t “necessarily the most Harlem-centric at the time. Not being Harlem-centric was okay” in a boom market, Kliegerman said. But in a tougher economic climate, “they really needed a broker who had a greater presence in Harlem.”

Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.

Halstead held its first open house on April 5 and received an offer on a unit this week, Kliegerman said.

Halstead took over marketing at another Harlem project, Full Spectrum and L&M Equity’s Kalahari condo at 40 West 116th Street, from the Marketing Directors in December, Kliegerman said. As other brokerages close their Harlem offices, Kliegerman said he thinks Halstead may end up taking over the marketing for other projects in the neighborhood.