Platinum Properties Joins Forbes Global Properties

Platinum Properties is joining the Forbes Global Properties network — and getting a new name and new digs to match.

As part of the partnership, the New York City brokerage is rebranding as Platinum Forbes Global Properties and will serve as Forbes’ only representative in New York City, the firm announced on Tuesday. The company is also upgrading its office to a bigger space in the same building at 100 Wall Street.

“This is a big elevation for our firm,” said Platinum’s CEO and co-founder, Dezireh Eyn. “This is Platinum really stepping up to the stage.”

Eyn said that joining the Forbes network would allow the brokerage to expand its reach and brand while remaining independent, especially at a time of increasing consolidation across the residential brokerage industry.

“One of, if not our biggest, strengths has been the fact that we’re small and nimble, and I just don’t think it’s possible to be that way when you’re a massive firm,” said Eyn, whose company now counts about 75 agents total. “We pivot on a dime because we can do that.”

Though the boutique brokerage is Forbes’ exclusive partner in the city, it isn’t the network’s first in the five boroughs. Forbes ended its licensing agreement with its former partner, Elegran Real Estate, last year. Following its split with the company, Elegran was acquired by Howard Hanna, marking the firm’s first outpost in Manhattan.

Eyn noted that the industry has shifted significantly since she co-founded Platinum with her brother, Khashy Eyn, more than 20 years ago, in part because of the transfer of wealth between generations with different motivations for buying and selling.

While “local expertise” used to reign supreme, Eyn said now most New York buyers are also looking to purchase or have already purchased homes in other markets across the country and the globe, and they need agents who can look at their portfolios “as a whole, rather than the sum of its parts.”

News of the partnership comes more than a year after a series of leadership shakeups at the brokerage. Last April, Platinum announced the launch of its commercial real estate arm, led by Eyn’s brother, Khashy.

Khashy was the CEO of the firm until last January, when Eyn, previously the chief operations officer, took over the top spot. Eyn tapped one of the company’s operations managers, Caitlin Trevino, to serve as vice president of operations. A month before, the brokerage also hired industry veteran Karen Gastiaburo as its sales director.

Forbes Global Properties, led by CEO Michael Jalbert, launched its network in 2020 and has partners in more than 30 countries, including across the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East and Europe.