Corcoran courts new dev expert in Surfside, opens fifth office

Coltrane has been in the real estate industry since 1980

Pam Liebman and Silvia Coltrane
Pam Liebman and Silvia Coltrane

In a move that could give the Corcoran Group a shot at winning coveted new development business north of Miami Beach, the brokerage has brought on broker and developer Silvia Coltrane, The Real Deal has learned.

Coltrane’s Real Estate Transactions Inc. office, at 9537 Harding Avenue in Surfside, will become Corcoran’s fifth outpost in South Florida. Corcoran is taking over the lease, and the office will be “fully Corcoranized” within a couple of weeks, said Pam Liebman, president and CEO of the New York-based brokerage. About 18 agents will work out of the Surfside location.

Liebman and Coltrane were introduced to each other by Patricia Prado, a Corcoran agent who previously worked for Coltrane. Liebman said she loves Coltrane’s experience in new development, and called her “a really fabulous lady,” adding that, “I know a lot of people were after her.”

While Liebman declined to disclose terms of the deal between Corcoran and Coltrane, she said “it’s a very fair deal for both of us.”

Coltrane has been involved in land sales totaling more than $300 million in recent years.

Coltrane, who’s been in the industry since 1980, has been involved in a number of deals and developments in Miami Beach, North Beach, Surfside and Bal Harbour. She brokered sales for Faena Miami Beach and the Fendi Chateau developers, as well as arranging the land for Ocean Terrace, a project led by Sandor Scher and backed by Alex Blavatnik.

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Coltrane will continue running her development firm, Transacta Developers, but said that any property sales she handles will be brokered via Corcoran. She said that joining Corcoran will give her the opportunity to take her business to a new level. “I liked their ethics and their style,” Coltrane added.

The arrangement comes as a number of wealthy buyers from the Northeast are flocking to South Florida to reap the tax benefits.

“This is where our alliance together will be a winning combination,” Coltrane said.

Corcoran has been in the Palm Beach market for years, expanding to West Palm Beach earlier this year and to Miami Beach in September with an office at 1688 Meridian Avenue.

The Realogy-owned firm plans to take on more new development projects north of Miami Beach in cities such as Surfside and Bal Harbour. In Surfside, it was the on-site brokerage for the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club.

Corcoran, which is dealing with the aftermath of a massive data breach, is one of the top brokerages in New York City. The firm has 40 offices and 2,200 agents in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Hamptons, Long Island, Shelter Island and South Florida.