On Ventura, there she goes. She just bought some bitchin’ clothes. Frank Zappa, “Valley Girl”
Residential brokerages have been invading the San Fernando Valley, particularly flocking to the Kardashian-run territory of Calabasas — but Sherman Oaks might be the next frontier.
Beverly Hills-based luxe brokerage the Agency will open its Sherman Oaks office next week at 14140 Ventura Boulevard next week, the company told The Real Deal.
It will be the company’s fourth new office to open this year, and its tenth in total. It follows on the heels of its San Francisco outpost, which opened earlier this month. The firm plans to open three more offices this year, CEO Mauricio Umansky said, but did not disclose where they would be located.
Having a physical location will help position the brokerage to better serve its clients in the San Fernando Valley, Agency President Billy Rose said.
“Our plan for strategic growth has always included Sherman Oaks, and we are pleased the time has come to formally open our doors,” Rose said in a statement.
The office will be led by the firm’s longtime agents Craig Knizek and Michelle Schwartz.
Compared to its next door neighbor Studio City, Sherman Oaks is a slightly more affordable market to enter for potential buyers to enter. Prices in Sherman Oaks start at $269 per square foot and hit as high as $1,023 per square foot, according to an analysis by real estate firm NeighborhoodX. In Studio City, they start at $365 and they go up to $1,135.
Sherman Oaks’ average listing price is $529 per square foot, much higher than the Valley’s average of $384.
Ralph Odierna, who was named head of Coldwell Banker Sherman Oaks on Tuesday, said there are a handful of brokerage firms in the area but is doubtful the city will go the way of Calabasas and be flooded with new entrants.
“A lot of real estate firms like to be on the first floor [of an office building], and if you look at what’s available commercially [in Sherman Oaks], there’s not a lot,” Odierna said. “Studio City and Encino are close enough to Sherman Oaks that agents cross-populate into each other’s territories.”
Any firm entering Sherman Oaks needs to act like a politician running for office, Odierna said.
“You have to shake hands and kiss babies,” he said. “You have to really know the vibe of the neighborhood and to just come into the city – it’s going to take quite a while to get used to the way that city operates.”