Oxford Property Group is moving on up and becoming a landlord — sort of.
The high-commission-split brokerage has roughly doubled its office footprint by moving into the almost 10,000-square-foot penthouse of a Garment District office building at 5 West 37th Street. The asking rent of a lower floor in the building pegs is $45 per square foot.
The brokerage, run by Adam Mahfouda, had been based in a 4,500-square-foot office seven blocks north.
The firm’s new office comes with a twist: Oxford has subleased part of the space to general contractor Sherri Builders and Goldgrub Law, a firm dedicated to residential and commercial real estate transactions.
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Sherri’s recent projects include restaurants at Hotel on Rivington, retail stores for Steve Madden, a Flatiron gym and private apartments.
“We’ve essentially created one-stop real estate incubator,” Mahfouda wrote in an email. “We’ve noticed a lot of efficiency gains and serendipitous connections — if agents or clients have legal questions, or want to get a quote on a renovation, they’re now able to do all of that casually and quickly at our new location.”
Matthew Goldgrub, who founded the law firm, said the shared office space does not represent a partnership between the companies despite the obvious “synergies.”
“For me, it makes sense from a space perspective,” the attorney said. “The lion’s share of my business comes from outside [contacts].”
The move is a throwback to the brokerage’s past: Seven years ago, Oxford moved from a shared office with a law firm into its own space so it could provide agents with the option of paying for a desk.
Oxford agents can keep 100 percent of their commissions and pay $495 per month for desk space and access to all databases, or take a 90 percent split for a $99 per month fee. Mahfouda said the firm has 600 agents.
Last month, in the wake of StreetEasy hiking daily listing fees to $6 from $4.50, the firm introduced a new 70 percent split where Oxford would cover agents’ StreetEasy rental and sales advertising costs. If agents want Oxford to cover costs related to StreetEasy’s controversial Premier Agent program, the firm offers a 50 percent split.
Write to Erin Hudson at ekh@therealdeal.com