Roy Kim, Compass’ new development chief, departs

Kim came to startup brokerage less than a year ago after stints at Corcoran Sunshine, Extell

RobertReffkinRoyKim
From left: Robert Reffkin and Roy Kim

Just nine months after leaving Extell Development to head up new development at startup brokerage Compass, Roy Kim is no longer at the firm, The Real Deal has learned.

Kim, who spent eight years at Extell and was the developer’s top design executive, left Compass on Monday, according to sources.

Extell plucked Kim from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, and the Vancouver native previously worked on the design team for architects Rem Koolhaus and Zaha Hadid.

While at Compass, Kim oversaw the firm’s new development division, which the brokerage claims has more than $2.5 billion in projects.

“Roy is an exemplary new development professional,” Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement to TRD Thursday. “We wish him nothing but the best as he pursues his next endeavor.” In announcing Kim’s appointment last year, Reffkin described Kim as an “ideal candidate” to lead the firm’s push into the ultra-competitive new development space.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Kim did not respond to requests for comment by press time. An automated email received from Kim’s Compass account on Thursday directed inquiries to an executive assistant on the firm’s new development team.

In March, another one of Compass’ key hires – head of research Sofia Song – left her full-time post and stepped into a consulting role.

Currently, Compass’ roster of new development projects includes half a dozen projects, according to its website, including 100 East 53rd Street, the Foster + Partners-designed tower that will have 91 units.

Earlier this year, Compass’s new development sales team was caught in the crosshairs of a lawsuit over Hudson Rise, a 380,000-square-foot development . New York-based Chinese development firm Kuafu Properties is trying to dissolve its partnership with Sean Ludwick’s Blackhouse Development and Siras Development, a firm founded by Ludwick’s former partners Saif Sumaida and Ashwin Verma. One of Kuafu’s key allegations was that Siras breached the trio’s partnership by giving Compass an exclusive sales agreement at Hudson Rise.