Brokerage Founder Clark Halstead Dies At 83

Clark Halstead, the co-founder of Sotheby’s International Realty and Halstead Property, died on Aug. 22. He was 83.

Halstead headed the Manhattan division of Sotheby’s International after launching the brokerage with Edward Lee Cave in 1976. He then co-founded Halstead Property in 1984 alongside Diane Ramirez, who served as president, CEO and chairman of the firm.

“He shaped and molded what we now understand residential real estate brokerage to be,” said Halstead’s nephew, Christopher Halstead, who is an executive and sales director with Brown Harris Stevens in Connecticut. “That’s part of his legacy.”

Halstead told Al Hughes, BHS’ controller, that he sketched out the idea for Halstead on the back of a bar napkin and presented it to the head of an investment group at a lunch meeting, according to a blogpost on BHS’ website.

Roughly 20 years later, Halstead and Ramirez sold the brokerage to Terra Holdings, the parent company of BHS. After the trade, Halstead pulled out of the day-to-day operations but stayed on as chairman emeritus and served as a mentor and advisor. Ramirez remained at the head of the firm until it merged with Brown Harris Stevens in 2020.

He was also a longtime member and leader with the Real Estate Board of New York, where he helped start and chaired the trade group’s residential division. He also served on the board of governors.

Halstead spent 11 years hosting a weekly radio show known as Halstead’s Real Estate Review on WQXR, along with TV appearances on shows like “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “Good Day New York.” In the late 1970s, he was a spokesperson and model for the Hathaway Shirt Company.

“He was the ultimate showman,” Christopher said. “That’s what made him great at his job.”

While at his eponymous firm, he was known for driving clients around in a fleet of branded London taxis outfitted with TVs, wet bars and, in the later years, computers.

“There are still people to this day who ask me if we have the taxis,” Christopher said. “I think there is actually one in a barn somewhere in the Hamptons, or so I’m told.”

Halstead maintained a residence in the city and in Carmel, New York, where he was an active member of a trail riding club.

Halstead lost both of his longtime partners to cancer. His wife Carol died in 2002, and his partner of 20 years, Mindy Papp, died earlier this year. Halstead is survived by his daughters Heather Gustafson and Hilary O’Keefe, his son-in-laws, Marc Gustafson and John O’Keefe, and his grandchildren, William, Winston, Oakley, and Olivia.