Brown Harris Stevens’ NYC President Resigns

Another former Halstead executive is exiting Brown Harris Stevens.

Richard Grossman, the brokerage’s New York regional president, is stepping down effective Sept. 30, BHS CEO Bess Freedman announced in an internal memo Thursday.

BHS CEO Bess Freedman

“Richard Grossman has decided to focus on personal endeavors and explore new career opportunities outside of New York real estate,” Freedman wrote in the message, which was viewed by The Real Deal.

Freedman added that Sara Rotter, an executive vice president, would assume oversight of the two offices she and Grossman had jointly managed in Soho and the West Village. Steve Kliegerman, president of Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing, will also be available to “offer his support” in the wake of Grossman’s exit, Freedman said.

Reached by phone, Grossman said he was leaving BHS for personal reasons but plans on staying in the business.

“Nothing to do with the firm or the company or anything like that,” he said. “I’m just looking for my next step in life.”

Grossman became BHS’ regional New York City president last year after the firm’s parent Terra Holdings merged its secondary firm, Halstead, into BHS. Grossman had been at Halstead for 16 years, most recently as president, reporting directly to Diane Ramirez, Halstead’s co-founder and CEO.

His exit comes two months after Ramirez stepped down as BHS’ executive chairman and senior advisor. A few weeks later, she joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New York Properties as the firm’s chief strategy officer.

Grossman said he’s planning to move to Paris and travel around Europe for the rest of the year before returning to the city. His contract with BHS has a non-compete in Manhattan that expires at the end of February, and he said he has been having conversations with other firms but hasn’t committed to a new role.

He said he’s looking for a role that’s more national in scope and that he wants to step outside the “traditional brokerage” world. Speaking about Halstead’s merger into BHS last year, he said “it sort of highlighted for me that maybe I wanted to do something different.”

“I’m looking to surround myself with people who are thinking differently,” he said. “I’m looking for something on a grander scale.”

In Freedman’s memo, she said the past year had been a challenge for “many reasons” but stressed that BHS’ future “has never been brighter.” She cited an upcoming marketing campaign and a new Upper West Side office near Lincoln Center at 1930 Broadway as examples and promised agents a new “suite of agent tech solutions.”

“Right now, all of us at BHS have the rare chance to build a company we are proud of, molded by the suggestions and feedback of our agents,” she wrote. “My door is always open, and your sales managers are here for you too.”