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Metrospire founder steps down, joins Online Residential

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Joseph Ben-Zvi, president and founder of brokerage Metrospire, stepped down in mid-August to work for Online Residential, a company owned by Jonathan Greenspan that handles Web site design as well as listing and database services for brokerages and developers in the five boroughs. Ben-Zvi’s appointment as director of sales there coincides with the creation of a new sales division at the company, of which he is the first and only member.

Currently, OLR’s typical client is a smaller brokerage, like Metrospire, with 50 to 100 brokers. Ben-Zvi expressed an interest in pursuing clients with 500 to 1,500 brokers. He declined to name specific potential clients as of press time, but said that negotiations are under way.

“It would be companies that traditionally spent millions of dollars in creating their own databases,” he said.

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He also plans to help expand the company’s client base into Long Island, Westchester and eastern New Jersey.

In addition to offering the existing OLR services to new prospective clients, the sales division will be marketing a new line of Web-based applications to be used by brokerages.

Ben-Zvi said that while it will be “a little weird” working with a client base that was once his competition, he does not think it will adversely affect business.

“We were competitive as athletes: Before and after you shake hands, but during play you have your game-face on,” he said. “But now we are not competitors, and we can be a lot more open with each other.”

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