The careers of real estate brokers and developers are usually thought of as so demanding that it is rare to find someone who does both at the same time. But for Ilan Bracha, who balances a career as a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman with his role as a developer at B+B Investment Group, the dual positions are an opportunity to flex both muscles.
“I have a lot of friends that are also developers as well as real estate investors and they are balancing these endeavors with three or four companies that they run simultaneously. This is the facet that I find both challenging and fun,” said Bracha, 33, a managing director and head of his own group at Elliman, as well as co-founder and co-president of B+B.
Some say maintaining both careers is a conflict of interest, but Bracha said his success with B+B shows new development clients what he is made of.
“By being a developer, I can help a developer walk successfully into a project,” Bracha said. Furthermore, “the Bracha Group gives me the eyes on the street and the connection with the international and local buyers. B & B Investment Group gives me the connection with great developers and investors — some own and run mega public companies — which helps me to give more opportunities to the investors that follow us.”
Bracha said he is not using his brokerage business to steer buyers into his developments. As a broker, he gets paid whether his client purchases a home in his building or in another developer’s, he said. But, obviously Bracha would have a bigger payday for a sale in a B+B building.
Dorothy Herman, CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, said one job should have nothing to do with the other one.
“The best agents sell what’s best for the client,” Herman said. “If you start pushing what’s in your best interest, not a client’s, you will not remain a top agent.”
People that have been down the brokerage and development road know how much time both jobs require.
“I don’t believe you can do both,” said Daren Hornig, a managing partner at SAXA development company and former chief executive of residential brokerage Dwelling Quest, who is not acquainted with Bracha. “I had 10 hours of meetings today. When would I find time for my clients as a broker?”
Bracha said he wants to keep both jobs, and so far he seems successful at handling both, at least from a monetary standpoint. The Israeli native has an income exceeding $5 million a year and at Elliman he — and his team — are amongst the top five brokers.
Bracha splits his days between the Elliman offices on the fifth floor at 575 Madison Avenue, at 56th Street, and the B+B offices, temporarily in the West 50s until renovations are complete on a 6,000-square-foot space in Trump Tower at 725 Fifth Avenue at 56th Street.
The businesses spill into each other with Bracha fielding Elliman calls while at B+B and vice versa. His Elliman agents are lined up to sell in B+B properties. Even his sister, Shiri, 27, does the marketing for both businesses.
Setting goals
What makes Bracha successful is ambition, optimism and a winning smile. And perhaps most importantly, he has good advisors.
“Ilan’s an incredibly hard worker. He sees no obstacles,” said his real estate coach, Monica Reynolds, from the national real estate coaching company Mike Ferry Organization. “He’s like a five-year-old. He doesn’t hear no when he wants yes.” Bracha had on an erasable board in his Elliman office: “Goals: 1,000 transactions in 2007.” His team did 327 deals, which beat out the 280 in 2006. This year he lowered the goal to a more realistic 500.
Bracha has been working with Reynolds for the last four years, speaking on the phone for 30 minutes every week. A proponent of training, Bracha shells out annually, $12,000 for himself, $12,000 for one of his sales agents, and $2,400 for each of his two assistants.
At the time he hooked up with Reynolds, Bracha was making $1 million a year, Reynolds said. Mike Ferry Organization estimates 20 to 30 percent earnings growth per year amongst clients, but Bracha wanted to make $5 million the following year, a 400 percent increase. Reynolds told him he didn’t have the staff he needed to do that. By the following week Bracha reported back that he had hired a few sales agents and a couple of assistants. He ended up bringing in beyond $5 million that following year.
Spiritual guidance
On a spiritual plane, Bracha looks to Israel-based Rabbi Yishayahu Yosef Pinto for guidance. Pinto is head of two organizations which focus on the study of Jewish teachings and outreach to the poor. When Pinto is in town, Bracha meets with him to get blessings on deals. He even cancelled a meeting with a reporter to see Pinto.
Framed photographs of the rabbi can be found on walls and Hebrew books are on horizontal surfaces around Bracha’s desk at Elliman, which is in the back of the office he shares with his team.
As a way to give back and acknowledge his good fortune, Bracha and B+B cofounder Haim Binstock are building a synagogue on 72nd Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard, which will provide a second Manhattan space for Pinto followers. Construction on the one-story Upper West Side house of prayer should be completed in a couple of months.
“It’s an honor,” Bracha said. Binstock chimed in, “It’s more than an honor.”
Bracha and Binstock, a New Jersey developer Bracha met nine years ago while handling Binstock’s real estate portfolio, founded B+B in 2006.
Most recently the duo launched a private equity fund in December. Bracha and Binstock aim to finance $300 million in real estate development over the next three years; they had obtained about half that as of last month.
The latest B+B development project is the first one the duo paid for entirely and are developing themselves. The other deals include buying and selling apartments and buildings. At 16-18 West 57th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, which B+B bought for $60 million, architect Frank Williams is planning a 28-story, mixed-use edifice with retail and a condo-hotel. Rooms will run about $1,000 a night. Williams co-designed the nearby Four Seasons Hotel New York down the street at 57 East 57th Street.
If B+B can acquire neighboring 10-14 West 57th Street, Williams will design a 41-story, 80,000-square-foot building with ground-floor retail, a high-end boutique hotel above and a luxury condominium at the top, Binstock said.
Williams, a partner of Frank Williams & Partners Architects, described Bracha as a people person with the ability “to see the potential of the site.” He added, “He has the kind of vision and energy maybe someone like Donald Trump had when he was younger.”
At Elliman, Bracha handles mostly resales and some new developments. His group handled marketing for the last few condo units in Trump’s Heritage at 240 Riverside Boulevard at 70th Street, as well as the condo conversion of Herald Towers at 50 West 34th Street before the owners abandoned their plans. He is the exclusive marketer on a small condominium building downtown, 53 Warren. He also brought 33 Madison Avenue, a B+B project, to Elliman.
Although B+B sold the parcel, another Elliman broker is handling the marketing.
“I’m getting lots of opportunities to get new developments,” Bracha said.
Bracha has come a long way. He grew up in Tel Aviv and after graduating from high school did his requisite three-year service in the Israeli army.
He entered a combat unit, becoming a commander of 120 soldiers. When asked if he killed anyone, he responded, “We did what we had to do.” He said none of his soldiers died under his command.
Today, his uniform is designer duds: During an interview with a reporter last month, Bracha wore a spiffy blue double pinstripe Armani suit and black leather Prada ankle boots with rubber soles.
A lack of a college degree hasn’t held him back.
Between the army and Elliman, Bracha started a bartending school and a free moving and storage magazine; both eventually failed. “We had people willing to advertise, but we didn’t have money to print it,” he said. He worked at a moving company, and when he moved Lewis Kaye of MLBKaye International Realty, Kaye suggested he go into real estate. Bracha got his license and spent five years at MLBKaye before Elliman’s Herman brought Bracha on board in 2004.
“I thought he was terrific. He was really a business person,” Herman said. “He came in with a business plan. He was one of the first [agents I encountered] in the city with a business plan.”
To make sure he stays on track, Bracha has four or five business plans, including one for his personal life. That way, while he focuses on work, he still has time with his wife, Mati, their 3-year-old daughter, Orion, and 1-year-old son, Eden. The couple brings the children to the pool in their Upper West Side building, to shows like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and to Israel three months a year
to visit extended family.
Bracha met Mati, a clothing designer, in Tel Aviv when they were 16 years old. It wasn’t until five and a half years ago that they realized they had chemistry. They celebrated five years of marriage last month.
Though Bracha teaches Elliman training classes, at home, he is more comfortable speaking Hebrew.
Bracha only knew a few words of English when he came to New York City with a friend 12 years ago. He said he had “no confidence to talk.” He added, somewhat jokingly, “I’m not an English teacher today.” Still needing work on his English, Reynolds, the real estate coach, has encouraged Bracha to work with a voice and speech coach. The coach is on Bracha’s list of things to do.