CORE out, Elliman in at Walker Tower

Elliman's Susan de Franca and a unit at Walker Tower
Elliman's Susan de Franca and a unit at Walker Tower

JDS Development said today that Douglas Elliman will take over as the exclusive marketer at Walker Tower, bumping CORE from the assignment. The move follows CORE agent Vickey Barron’s departure to Elliman earlier this week.

The brokerage will be responsible for selling the few last remaining units at the building at 212 West 18th Street, developed by JDS and Property Markets Group. The available units include a 5,900-square-foot penthouse with 479 square feet of outdoor space. Six units are listed as available on StreetEasy, ranging in price from $8.25 million to $14 million.

Core launched the 47-unit project in July 2012 with a party attended by industry power brokers such as Town Residential’s Wendy Maitland; Nest Seekers International’s Ryan Serhant; Elliman’s Oren Alexander, Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes; and the Corcoran Group’s Robby Browne. The firm employed some unusual tactics to market the property, including commissioning an author to pen a book about the building’s original architect, Ralph Walker. (The conversion was designed by architecture firm CetraRuddy.)

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Barron, who handled sales and marketing of the property on behalf of CORE, announced her departure from the firm after two years earlier this week. She returned to Elliman, where she had previously worked for 11 years.

When contacted yesterday, she said she was continuing to market the project on behalf of CORE for two weeks, citing a contractual obligation. Osher, currently in Australia to give the keynote address at a real estate conference, denied yesterday that the firm had lost the assignment to Elliman following Barron’s departure.

Following JDS’s announcement today, a CORE spokesperson said: “CORE successfully marketed Walker Tower for record breaking prices. With only a handful of units remaining, it is unfortunate that what appear to be the sponsor’s internal conflicts have brought us to this point. Our attorneys will be handling this matter moving forward.”

Michael Stern of JDS declined to provide further comment on the switch up.