Corcoran Group continues its franchise brand expansion throughout the U.S. with its entrance into the Chicago market.
The New York-based residential brokerage said the franchise affiliate will be called Corcoran Urban Real Estate of Chicago.
It will continue to be led by Urban Real Estate founder and managing partner Matt Farrell and senior partner Michael Emery. The firm, which did $85 million in sales last year, has 25 agents. It will maintain its headquarters in its Loop office at 400 East Randolph Street.
The firm will continue to target homes in the Gold Coast, New Eastside, Streeterville, Loop, South Loop and West Loop, according to a Corcoran release. Farrell said the addition of Corcoran will allow the Chicago brokerage to eventually open new offices and bring on additional agents.
Corcoran’s Chicago-area franchise launch is part of the New York firm’s larger nationwide expansion. Last month, its first franchise opened in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe/Reno, Nevada, markets. At the time, president and CEO Pam Liebman called the affiliate franchise a first step in franchising the Corcoran brand — which was first announced in 2018. Corcoran soon followed with its second franchise in Orlando, Florida.
Corcoran, whose parent company is Realogy, entered the Miami market in September.
Corcoran competes with Douglas Elliman for being the largest brokerage in New York based on size and deal volume. After a recent merger with Citi Habitats, Corcoran will have a combined 2,420 agents in New York City, who were responsible for $7 billion in annual sales and 22,000 rental transactions last year.
Another local brokerage associated with Realogy, Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, recently sold a significant stake to Toronto-based Peerage Realty Partners.
According to documents filed last year, opening a Corcoran franchise costs between $153,000 and $518,000, and franchisees’ royalties to Corcoran start at 6 percent. They are also obligated to contribute a percentage of gross revenue for brand marketing. Corcoran declined to disclose financials surrounding Urban Real Estate.
Chicago Agent was first to report on the Corcoran franchise move.