Warburg Realty’s Jay Glazer and Town Residential’s Tinnie Chan Sassano are the latest in a string of high-profile brokers to jump to Urban Compass in recent months. The moves come hot on the heels of star broker Leonard Steinberg’s surprise defection from Douglas Elliman.
Glazer, named one of Warburg’s top brokers in 2013 along with Richard Steinberg and Wendy Greenbaum, cited Leonard Steinberg’s leap as a factor that cemented his decision to make the move.
“Though it wasn’t my number-one driving factor, the Leonard timing is great,” Glazer told The Real Deal. “He’s incredibly well respected in the industry, so it definitely added an appeal. It brought a gravitas that was very compelling.”
Glazer, who completed over 24 transactions in 2013 as a one-man team, primarily on the buyer side, focuses on condominium and co-op resales Downtown. But the chance to work with Steinberg, he said, offered an opportunity to learn more about working with new developments.
“Agents in the industry are looking for a collaborative culture where they can have more success and more support if they’re considering a change,” Gordon Golub, an Urban Compass senior executive and Citi Habitats alum, told TRD. “They also want to learn about new development. With Leonard Steinberg on our team, he is going to provide the support and train everyone on new developments.”
Sassano, who specializes in the high-end luxury market in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with a particular focus on Soho, Tribeca and Battery Park City, has worked in real estate for over ten years. Her decision to make a move, she said, was driven by a desire to grow her business with a tech-friendly firm.
“Technology has changed the processes by which we do just about everything today,” she told TRD via email. “Most real estate firms in New York City have fallen behind on developing new advancements to correspond to the times.”
Urban Compass launched in May 2013 with a business model that combined a StreetEasy-style listings website with a team of salaried “neighborhood specialists” who essentially served as rental brokers. Urban Compass made the jump to sales in December, opened a second New York City office at 19 Union Square West in February. The startup has since brought a number of high-profile brokers and other industry executives on board, including Steinberg, StreetEasy head of research and communications Sofia Song, Citi Habitat alum Jason Saft and Town’s Takeshi “Takk” Yamaguchi.