The Heddings Property Group is expanding its reach to two suburban markets, having recently opened a Greenwich, Conn. office while looking for space in Westchester County. The firm plans to hire five brokers in each office by the end of the year.
The residential brokerage has already built a Manhattan and a Hamptons presence, since breaking off from Rutenberg Realty two summers ago.
Douglas Heddings, president of the company, said he chose the Westchester and Greenwich markets in an effort to capture a spillover of demand from Manhattan. “The buying pool is the same [in Manhattan, Westchester and Greenwich], especially from a foreign money influx position,” he said, adding, “There is a lot of money coming into those markets, and being able to provide regional expertise,” will set his firm apart.
Prudential Douglas Elliman veteran Joy Kim Metalios is running the Greenwich office solo, and Heddings is in the process of procuring brick-and-mortar space in Westchester County. Metalios said the Westchester office space would likely be in near their current listings in the area, which are in Bronxville, Larchmont and Scarsdale. Metalios is running the operations for both offices currently, and when a new Westchester head is found she will focus only on Greenwich, Heddings said. The Greenwich office, which is located at 45 Willow Road, began operations the first of the year, Metalios said.
The potential for cross-marketing between the city and suburbs piqued Metalios’ interest as well, she said. “The same consumer that might be thinking of buying a two or three-bedroom in Manhattan will also be thinking, ‘hey maybe I’ll go to Greenwich, get more space and send my kids to public school,'” she said. Metalios joined Heddings’ company, which she said has a “google-esque” collaborative working environment, in November.
Before she took over this position, Metalios headed the Westchester and Connecticut offices for White Plains-based Maxwell Jacobs. Working with Heddings made more sense for her because she was interested in marketing herself more aggressively and using technology to get business. She said other suburban firms “aren’t thinking of marketing globally; they aren’t used to looking at [listings] online. Everybody else is kind of behind.”