Developer Michael Shvo is cutting ties with Official, the boutique brokerage co-founded by Oren and Tal Alexander, in the wake of sexual assault and rape allegations leveled against the brothers, The Real Deal has learned.
Shvo, who hired Official last year to lead sales and marketing of the Rosewood Residences at the Raleigh in Miami Beach, is bringing sales in-house, sources said. Anna Sherrill, who joined Official at the end of May, will stay on in her current role as sales director, a spokesperson for Shvo confirmed.
The move comes nearly three weeks after The Real Deal first reported on two lawsuits filed in New York against Oren and his twin brother Alon, which alleged the brothers raped at least two women. Days later, Oren said he was stepping back from Official, and by the end of that week Official co-founder Nicole Oge said she and her partners were in the process of removing Oren as an owner.
The Wall Street Journal later reported accounts from five women claiming they had been sexually assaulted by Oren.
Tal announced he was stepping back from Official earlier this week, after a lawsuit filed in New York against Alon and Tal Alexander, alleged they raped a woman in an attack orchestrated by Oren.
Official is backed by Guy Gal’s white label firm Side. Oren and Tal co-founded the company about two years ago with Oge, her partner Richard Jordan and Andrew Wachtfogel.
Backed by the Alexander Team brand, Official was hired to lead sales of at least three South Florida projects: the Raleigh, JDS Development Group’s Dolce & Gabbana-branded condo tower in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood and developer Jonathan Landau Indian Creek Residences & Yacht Club in Bay Harbor Islands.
Shvo is working with Deutsche Finance on redeveloping the Raleigh, South Seas and Richmond hotels along the oceanfront at 1751, 1757 and 1775 Collins Avenue into a Rosewood Hotels & Resorts-branded condo and hotel project.
The planned development calls for a 60-key hotel and a new 17-story, 44-unit condo tower.
The Raleigh is struggling with slow presales, the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider recently reported. Around the time the allegations became widely reported, Official brought on Sherrill as the project’s sales director from One Sotheby’s International Realty.
Sources previously told TRD that JDS, led by Michael Stern, plans to replace Official at the Brickell project. A spokesperson for Landau’s Bay Harbor Islands project declined to comment earlier this week.
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