Roy Kim, a former top design executive for Extell Development, has joined Douglas Elliman in a newly-created new development role, The Real Deal has learned. Kim most recently spent nine months as the head of new development at Compass, but told TRD that “when your heart’s not in it, it’s time to go.”
Kim will be Elliman’s Chief Creative Officer for Development Marketing, focusing on Florida and California, the brokerage said. In that role, he will advise developers in those markets on design, pre-development planning and new development marketing.
Susan de França, president and CEO of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing and Kim’s new boss, called him “one of the top creative minds in the luxury residential marketplace.” Howard Lorber, chairman of the firm, said: “Roy has the rare ability to draw upon knowledge and experience from the brokerage side, developer side and design side of new development, and his talent is immeasurable.”
[vision_pullquote style=”1″ align=””] “When your heart’s not in it, it’s time to go.” – Roy Kim, on leaving Compass [/vision_pullquote]
Speaking from Miami, Kim told TRD that he began taking meetings with suitors after resigning from Compass on April 7. “Every brokerage called me,” he said.
He cited Elliman’s partnership with Knight Frank as a key draw. “The intelligence and sophistication that they bring to the market can’t be understated,” he said.
At Compass, Kim helped the firm land $2 billion in new development projects within a six-month period, Elliman said, though that figure could not be independently verified.
Extell chief Gary Barnett plucked Kim from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group in 2006, and he worked on some of the developer’s biggest projects, including One57 and the Park Hyatt New York.
Elliman has been expanding aggressively in California and South Florida. In Florida, the brokerage recently hired Gus Rubio, the former COO of One Sotheby’s International Realty. In February, Elliman’s Beverly Hills office snagged top broker Josh Altman, a headline on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” along with brother Matt Altman and six other broker teams.