The Warren Lewis office in ParkVenerable Park Slope brokerage Warren Lewis Realty is expanding outside the neighborhood for the first time. The 25-year-old firm is taking over Prudential Douglas Elliman’s old office at 299 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, according to Warren Lewis president Aroza Sanjana. The 1,600-square-foot location, which Elliman vacated last year after moving into a bigger office, is slated to open in January, she said.
Sanjana has been shaking things up at Warren Lewis since taking the reigns earlier this year, when she folded her company, Atlantic Realty Partners, into the well-known brokerage and moved into its space on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. She recently hired top Corcoran broker Wassim Fakhereddine, bringing the current stable of full-time Warren Lewis agents to 18.
Williamsburg might seem like an unusual place for a new Warren Lewis location. After all, the hipster-heavy neighborhood has a very different reputation from the family-friendly brownstones of Park Slope. But the two areas actually have a lot in common, Sanjana said, including a focus on home seekers from Manhattan.
“Manhattan buyers come to Brooklyn and say, ‘I’m told I should be looking at Park Slope and Williamsburg,’” she said. Because Warren Lewis already has considerable name recognition in Park Slope, Williamsburg seemed like the logical next step, she said.
Moreover, both neighborhoods appreciate home-grown brands, Sanjana said, adding that she feels her firm is a much better fit for Williamsburg than Elliman.
“The neighborhood’s independent spirit just doesn’t match the big firms,” she said. “People appreciate a local sensibility.”