Two longtime Corcoran agents are jumping to Douglas Elliman, to form a new team.
John Gasdaska and Jonathan Conlon, who have been business partners at Corcoran for nearly 18 years under the Gasdaska Conlon moniker, are moving joining T.J. Verdiglione, who had worked with the pair at Corcoran starting in 2019.
The duo did $75 million in sales last year, according to a spokesperson for the brokerage. In addition to their sales number, the pair bring with them some industry clout in the form of strategic partners Sharon Baum and Elyse Gutman.
Baum, who claims over $2 billion in sales across the city’s luxury market, has worked with Gasdaska and Conlon at Corcoran for the past 15 years. Conlon told The Real Deal that Baum began referring clients to his team on an exclusive basis starting in 2020.
“She was always the queen of Park and Fifth Avenue and has done some of the most impressive deals that have ever happened [there],” Conlon said. “It’s not a small feat or a small thing to be the person that accepts that business.”
Baum made waves in the early aughts with her flashy accoutrement (a Rolls Royce Silver Spur) and her flashier sales (the $40 million Duke Semans Mansion on Fifth Avenue). Working with the brokers has allowed Baum to slow down her pace of work while servicing her clients as needed, Conlon said.
“Sharon is a legend and one of the great ladies of real estate,” a Corcoran spokesperson stated. “We thank her for her tremendous legacy with Corcoran and for her valued friendship.”
Conlon said the move to Elliman was spurred by the opportunity to rejoin Verdiglione, following the broker by a few months. Conlon said Verdiglione’s Jersey business has been focused on resales, while his Florida business has centered around development.
“We were not shopping around,” Conlon said. “T.J.’s business has grown so fast, he was trying to find systems to make his business cohesive, and he realized how good our infrastructure was and he respects how we’ve structured our business.”
Conlon said he and Gasdaska handle a variety of properties in the city, with the Upper East and Upper West sides comprising 60 percent of the business.
Corcoran and Elliman sat first and third in TRD’s 2023 rankings of Manhattan brokerages, claiming $5.1 billion and $4.2 billion in sales, respectively.
“Corcoran has had a wonderful relationship with John and Jonathan and understand their desire to spread their wings into multiple markets,” a Corcoran spokesperson said. “We wish them the absolute best in their latest endeavor.” The move is the latest reshuffling of the deck between two of the top brokerages in the city. Elliman’s Espinal Adler team, which RealTrends reports claimed $140 million in 2023 sales volume, jumped in February to Corcoran.
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