Coldwell Banker is shuttering its residential Sunset Strip office at 9000 West Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, The Real Deal has exclusively learned.
There were 77 realtors working at the high-rent-neighborhood outpost in the Mani Brothers-owned building, according to Coldwell Banker’s website. Sources said the brokers found out this month at the last minute and have begun to relocate to nearby offices. The MLS now only shows six agents attached to West Hollywood suite.
A spokesperson for Coldwell Banker said relocation of agents is par for the course.
“We are continually relocating offices in order to stay relevant to the specific markets we serve,” the spokesperson said. “We operate nearly 600 offices in the United States and nearly 150 of those offices are in California. Our goal is to always position our company in the most opportune locations for our nearly 46,000 associates to serve their clients in.”
It is unknown exactly how many square feet Coldwell Banker is vacating. The spokesperson declined to discuss details.
Sources said Coldwell’s lease was up, and the move was a cost-cutting measure that allowed the outpost, which is franchised by Realogy Holdings Corp., to cut several office staff and management positions, in addition to rent. Those sources said that having an office in every neighborhood was deemed no longer as necessary, thanks to technology, and that Coldwell Banker would be saving money by using its nearby Beverly Hills offices.
Other sources surmised bigger tensions could be involved, and that a larger shakeup is happening in the residential brokerage world. Recently, Los Angeles has seen the rise of newer collaborative brokerages like Partners Trust, which opened in 2009; The Agency, which opened in 2011; as well as the arrival of Douglas Elliman and Compass, which recently expanded to Los Angeles.
The Mani Brothers could not immediately be reached for comment on the building lease.