CORE is closing its Seventh Avenue office and has plans to open a new space on the West Side.
The brokerage has a multi-year plan to open a retail space in West Chelsea near Hudson Yards, according to a press release. The concept is to develop a more “dynamic” location that will give clients a more technology-based, personalized experience.
“The days of having fancy lightboxes in the window and agents sitting at the desks are over,” CEO Shaun Osher said in a statement. “Our original Chelsea office pioneered the many gallery-inspired residential real estate offices that followed, but that was 10 years ago. The market and some of the ways our clients interact with our agents have changed, and we are changing along with it.”
The firm hasn’t finalized a location. But the brokerage decided three years ago to relocate from its first office at 127 Seventh Avenue after its lease expires next month, the report said. The firm spent “a small fortune” on repairs and maintenance at the location, Osher said, and “we simply could not operate out of there anymore.”
CORE opened its office at 149 Fifth Avenue just over a year ago — and has also added locations in Union Square and Cobble Hill.
Earlier this month, the firm lost luxury townhouse specialist Jim St. Andre who joined Compass. St. Andre sold $210 million worth of real estate last year, according to Compass. His departure came at a time when the boutique firm is being squeezed by competition and a slowdown in the luxury and new development markets.