These resi brokers killed it during a historic month for NYC luxury real estate

A TRD analysis of public records identified the top 25 residential transactions in the city

UPDATE Tuesday August 20, 2019, 9:05 p.m.: June was the best month for New York City’s luxury market in… maybe ever! Over 600 homes traded at over $2 million during the month, as buyers and sellers rushed to complete deals before a series of new taxes kicked in on July 1. To determine which brokers worked around the clock and made a killing, The Real Deal crunched the numbers on the 25 biggest resi deals to close during the month.

Based on TRD’s analysis of public records, the largest 25 transactions by dollar amount ranged from $18 million to $79 million, and all took place in Manhattan. Condominium sales dominated the list, though townhouses accounted for about a third of the transactions. The absence of co-ops on Park Avenue in particular struck appraiser Jonathan Miller as a further blow to the submarket, long associated with luxury living.

“They are no longer the market leaders in the high-end space, as the past five years have seen them lose significant ground to condos,” he said.

The dealmakers on the sell-side were largely agents from major brokerages and developers’ in-house sales teams. (There is no available public record to ascertain the buy-side broker, so buyers’ representatives are excluded from this analysis unless previously reported by TRD.)

Compass’ Leonard Steinberg appeared four times on the list, more than any other broker.

Steinberg’s sell-side deals alongside other Compass listing agents — including Toni Haber, Kyle Blackmon and Clayton Orrigo — ranged from $18.5 million to $25.5 million, for a total of $82.9 million. Compass brokers were the listing agents on five of the 25 biggest deals to close in June.

In light of past criticism of Compass’ new development chops and ability to cater to ultra-high-net-worth clients, Steinberg said the brokerage’s performance was “a moment to celebrate.”

But he said he’s not basking in the afterglow of June’s successes: “There is no finish line in real estate, it’s the never-ending race,” he said. “I’m nervous until the checks clear. Then I’m nervous about where the next check will come [from]. That is the life of an agent, it’s eternal anxiety.”

Meanwhile, Adam Modlin’s boutique firm, Modlin Group, handled three of the top deals, including the month’s second biggest transaction, the record sale of financier Philip Falcone’s Upper East Side townhouse, at $77 million. Modlin also teamed up with Douglas Elliman’s Oren and Tal Alexander on one of the deals. All told, the dollar value of sales Modlin worked on within TRD’s top 25 ranking totaled a whopping $125 million — the highest of any individual broker.

Modlin described his firm’s approach as a “curated, bespoke, family office for real estate,” where he’s involved in each transaction and maintains close relationships with his clients.

“Ultra high-net worth individuals are all going towards a family office model and that’s what Modlin Group represents in the marketplace,” he said.

Another boutique shop, Prime Manhattan Residential, also made it into the upper tranche of month’s transactions with a $19 million townhouse sale.

Of the larger brokerages, agents from Douglas Elliman exclusively listed four of the top deals, while The Corcoran Group agents solely listed three. Specialty new development firms, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group and Zeckendorf Marketing each handled two deals within the top 25 ranking. Sotheby’s International Realty’s agents handled three of the month’s top transactions. Take a look through the slideshow below to see the top deals closed in June and who was behind each transaction. A full list appears below.

1 – 212 Fifth Avenue, PHA and units 21A, 21B
$80 million
Buyer: Jeff Bezos
Seller: Madison Equities, Building and Land Technology and Thor Equities
Seller’s representative: Nikki Field, Brad Ingalls, Mara Flash Blum and Kevin B. Brown, Sotheby’s International Realty
Buyer’s representative: John Burger, Brown Harris Stevens

2 – 14 East 67th Street
Price: $77.1 million
Buyer: John Griffin
Seller: Philip and Lisa Falcone
Seller’s representative: Adam Modlin, Modlin Group
Buyer’s representative: Sami Hassoumi, Brown Harris Stevens

3 – 220 Central Park South Villa 6 
$39 million
Seller: Vornado Realty Trust
Seller’s representative: Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group

4 – 220 Central Park South Villa 4
$33.2 million
Seller: Vornado Realty Trust
Seller’s representative: Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group

5 – 150 Charles Street, Unit PHB
$31.8 million
Seller: Steve Witkoff
Seller’s representative: Appears to be co-brokered by Douglas Elliman’s Maria Elena Scotto of the Shepard/Scotto Team and the Corcoran Group’s Peter Zaitzeff

Note: This sale was an off-market transaction so TRD could not independently verify the agents. Witkoff did not respond to a request for comment.

6 – 432 Park Avenue, Unit 94
$31.5 million
Buyer: Roy Eddleman
Seller: Macklowe Properties and CIM Group
Seller’s representative: Shari Scharfer-Rollins, Sabrina Saltiel, J. Roger Erickson and Richard J Steinberg of Douglas Elliman

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7 – 520 Park Avenue, Unit 35
$30.5 million
Seller: Zeckendorf Development
Seller’s representative: Louis Buckworth and Filippa Edberg-Manuel of Zeckendorf Marketing

8 – 432 Park Avenue, Unit 86B
$29.5 million
Buyer: Roger and Susan Hertog
Seller: Macklowe Properties and CIM Group
Seller’s representative: Shari Scharfer-Rollins, Sabrina Saltiel, J. Roger Erickson and Richard J. Steinberg of Douglas Elliman

9 – 520 Park Avenue, Unit 33
$28 million
Seller: Zeckendorf Development
Seller’s representative: Louis Buckworth and Filippa Edberg-Manuel of Zeckendorf Marketing

10 – 250 West 81st Street, Unit PH20
$27.4 million
Seller: Alchemy Properties
Seller’s representative: Timothy McCarthy, Alchemy Properties and Susan Wires and Alexa Lambert of Compass (formerly Stribling & Associates)

11 – 2 North Moore
$26.7 million
Seller: Mark Zittman
Seller’s representative: Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group, and The Alexander Team of Douglas Elliman

12 – 36-38 East 74th Street
$25.5 million
Seller: Charles Huangbunsamrit
Seller’s representative: Louise Beit of Sotheby’s International Realty

13 – 134 East 74th Street
$25.2 million
Seller: Stellar Management and Hakimian Properties
Seller’s representative: Carrie Chiang and Loy Carlos of the Corcoran Group

14 – 56 Leonard Street, PH53
$25 million
Buyer and seller’s representatives: Compass’ Leonard Steinberg, Toni Haber, Clayton Orrigo, Stephen Ferrara, and The Hudson Advisory Team

15 – 1010 Park Avenue, Unit TRDPX
$24.9 million
Buyer: Juan Beckmann Vidal
Seller: Extell Development Company
Seller’s representative: Beth Benalloul and Hilary Landis of the Corcoran Group

16 – 24 Leonard Street Penthouse
$23.9 million
Buyer: Harsh Padia
Seller: Charles Dunne
No brokers known to be involved

17 – 12 East 81st Street
$23 million
Buyer’s representative: Pamela D’Arc of Compass (formerly Stribling & Associates)
Seller’s representative: David Cox and Oliver Brown of the Corcoran Group

18 – 515 Park Avenue, Unit 27/28
$22.5 million
Seller’s representative: Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group
Buyer’s representative: Adam Modlin and Maggie Gold Seelig of the Modlin Group

19 – 11 West 12th Street
$19.9 million
Seller: Family of the late Malcolm Forbes
Seller’s representative: Leonard Steinberg and Kyle Blackmon of Compass

20 – 71 Laight Street, Unit PHA
$19.5 million
Buyer: Nat Turner
Seller: Jon Oringer
Buyer’s representative: Brown Harris Steven’s Michael Reed
Seller’s representative: Compass’ Leonard Steinberg, Clayton Orrigo, Stephen Ferrara and the Hudson Advisory Team

21 – 42 Crosby Street Penthouse
$19.1 million
Seller’s representative: Jade Chan, Madeline Hult Elghanayan and Kirk Rundhaug of Douglas Elliman

22 – 252 West 12th Street
$19 million
Seller’s representative: Leslie Mason of Douglas Elliman

23 – 9 East 84th Street
$19 million
Seller: Carl Berg
Seller’s representative: Robert Dankner and Maude Davis of Prime Manhattan Residential

24 – 130 West 12th Street Penthouse
$18.5 million
Buyer: Justin Korsant
Seller: Andrew Rosen
Buyer’s representative: Brett Mitchell of Compass
Seller’s representative: Leonard Steinberg, Herve Senequier and Robert Halperin of Compass

25 – Woolworth Tower Residences, Unit 40A
$18 million
Seller: Alchemy Properties
Seller’s representative: Stan Ponte and Joshua Judge of Sotheby’s International Realty

Clarification: Leonard Steinberg and Toni Haber have been reinstated as agents who worked on the sale of 56 Leonard Street, PH53 in addition to Clayton Orrigo, Stephen Ferrara, and The Hudson Advisory Team. The initial change was made due to erroneous information provided by Compass to TRD.