Elliman taps Leslie Wilson for key new development role

Former Related SVP now acting as top deputy to Susan de França

From left: Leslie Wilson and Susan de Franca
From left: Leslie Wilson and Susan de Franca

Leslie Wilson, a former senior vice president at the Related Cos., will now oversee new development marketing efforts at Douglas Elliman, The Real Deal has learned.

Wilson, who was one of Related’s top salespeople, started Monday as senior executive vice president and managing director of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing. She will be the top deputy to Susan de França, president and CEO of the brokerage’s new development division.

By hiring Wilson, Elliman is beefing up its fast-growing new development team, whose portfolio of projects includes Macklowe Properties and CIM Group’s 432 Park Avenue and Stella Tower, developed by Property Markets Group and JDS Development.

“Leslie’s decision to join Douglas Elliman marks yet another significant milestone for the company,” Elliman chair Howard Lorber said in a statement.

Wilson and de França also worked together at Related, where de França was president of Related’s sales division until her move to Elliman in 2011.

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“We are long-time colleagues and friends. Even though I wasn’t at Douglas Elliman, I always had a front-row seat, watching the evolution of the development marketing,” Wilson said.

As a senior vice president at Related, Wilson oversaw $2 billion worth of luxury condo developments. She sold condos at the developer’s 57-unit Superior Ink building in the West Village as well as its 53-unit condo project at One Madison.She became dually licensed at CORE last year, after Related acquired a 50 percent stake in the boutique brokerage.

“I loved working for Related,” Wilson said. “But now I can extrapolate that experience and do it for multiple developers.”

Previously, she spent 19 years working on Wall Street and later worked for the Trump Organization.