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Sotheby’s Chris Poore jumps to BHS

Resi brokerages amp up recruiting as they dig out of Covid slump

From left: Chris Poore, Kathryn Steinberg, Armin Allen and Caroline Guthrie (Getty, BHS)
From left: Chris Poore, Kathryn Steinberg, Armin Allen and Caroline Guthrie (Getty, BHS)

Chris Poore is bringing his A-list rolodex to Brown Harris Stevens.

On Friday, the firm said Poore and Eyal Dagan, his husband and business partner, will join the residential firm after six years at Sotheby’s International Realty, where they sold real estate to clients including designer Marc Jacobs and comedian Trevor Noah. Since 2014, the duo has sold $350 million worth of real estate.

The move comes at a time when the city’s agents are getting back to work after Gov. Andrew Cuomo barred in-person home showings this spring. In response, many firms enacted cost-cutting measures to ride out the pandemic.

But many have started recruiting again, too.

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Also on Friday, Sotheby’s said it had hired a trio of agents from BHS. Caroline Guthrie, Kathryn Steinberg and Armin Allen were part of the Edward Lee Cave team that joined BHS in 2009 when it acquired Cave’s boutique firm.

Cave, a former chief auctioneer at Sotheby’s auction house, became a legendary agent and founding chairman of Sotheby’s International Realty in 1976 before spinning off his eponymous firm.

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“We thank Caroline, Kathryn and Armin for the many great years and contributions they made to BHS and we wish them well,” a spokesperson for BHS said, adding that 11 agents from Cave’s team will remain at the firm.

Guthrie, Steinberg and Allen bring decades of experience and Upper East Side connections to Sotheby’s, which is part of real estate conglomerate Realogy.

Guthrie, who has sold $1 billion worth of real estate, is also a former managing director of sales for BHS’ Madison Avenue office. “Sellers today really want their properties to receive maximum exposure in every corner of the globe,” she said, referring to Sotheby’s international network.

Steinberg has sold the former home of John D. Rockefeller at 740 Park Avenue, among other exclusive addresses such as 834 Fifth Avenue.

Poore, meanwhile, is known for his roster of celebrity clients. Last year, he was the listing broker for designer Marc Jacobs, who put his West Village townhouse on the market for $15.995 million. In 2017, he sold a $10 million penthouse at Stella Tower to The Daily Show host Trevor Noah. Poore also had the listing for pop artist James Rosenquist’s townhouse at 162 Chambers Street, which sold for $11.8 million in 2018, according to property records.

In a statement, Poore cited the fresh energy at BHS led by CEO Bess Freedman, which recently merged with Halstead. After a successful run at Sotheby’s, he said he felt “it was time to move to a new firm with new energy in order to level-up my business.”

Although most firms had to make financial cuts over the last six months, some have been recruiting. Compass grew by 11 percent, or 250 agents, between March and June, according to a recent analysis of Department of State data by The Real Deal.

BHS and Halstead saw a net loss in headcount of 1.6 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. That works out to around 38 agents.

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Brown Harris StevensSotheby's International Realty