Elliman appoints Brooklyn marketing director

UPDATED, 10:05 a.m., June 4: Douglas Elliman has installed Michael Allen, a recent hire from aptsandlofts.com, as director of marketing in Brooklyn, as well as the director of sales for the Williamsburg office.

Allen, who joined the brokerage in April, began last week overseeing more than 40 agents at the brokerage’s Williamsburg office at 490 Driggs Avenue.

He is also working directly with chief marketing officer Camilla Papale to bolster the marketing strategy at the other Brooklyn offices. The dual position is a new one for the company, an Elliman spokesperson said.

The brokerage is ramping up its new development marketing operations, headed by Susan de França, in New York City. Reid Price joined Elliman in April as the new executive vice president of development marketing, just days after suddenly leaving Andrew Heiberger’s Town Residential, as The Real Deal reported. Last month, Vickey Barron jumped to Elliman’s new development team from Core.

Previously, the 46-year-old Greenpoint resident served for six years as a salesperson at aptsandlofts.com, a firm that primarily handles new development assignments. He was in charge of sales for such projects as 852 Cypress Avenue condos in Bushwick and 361 Manhattan Avenue condos in Williamsburg, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he was a senior sales associate at Citi Habitats for three years.

Allen said he will primarily aim to extend the Elliman brand in Brooklyn.

“We’re modifying how we present ourselves in Brooklyn,” Allen said, “in terms of imagery, messaging, copy on the website and social media.”

For Allen, Brooklyn and Elliman are respectively marked by a changing identity. Elliman officially dropped its affiliation with Prudential last November, a callback to its 1911 origins as an independent company. In 2010, Elliman expanded to a 2,300-square-foot Loft Space On Driggs Avenue.

“People come here consciously now – they want the lifestyle, but don’t want the pace of Manhattan,” Allen said. He left aptsandlofts.com because Elliman approached him with a job offer, he said.

“Michael is a talented real estate professional who thrived as a sales agent with aptsandlofts.com,” said David Maundrell, the brokerage’s president. “I wish him the best in the next chapter of his career.”