Adam Modlin

Modlin’s brokerage is a lean operation. Known as the Modlin Group, the firm counts just eight agents in Manhattan. It’s a rarity among the city’s luxury players, especially at a time when the largest firms are gobbling up peers. 

Yet Modlin has been standing his ground since he founded the firm with his older brother, Avery, in 1999. His penchant for closing some of the biggest deals in Manhattan means he may be one of the few independent firms to survive this period of consolidation unscathed. 

Modlin made a name for himself as the broker behind a number of high-profile celebrity deals. He sold Justin Timberlake’s apartment at the Pearline Soap Factory in Tribeca in 2011. He represented former Yankees player Alex Rodriguez when he bought a penthouse at 15 Central Park West two years later. 

Then, he graduated to the record breakers. In 2019, he represented hedge funder John Griffin in his 2019 purchase of a townhouse on the Upper East Side for $77 million, which at the time set a new ceiling for single-family home deals.

Last year, Modlin’s firm placed 11th in The Real Deal’s ranking of the top brokerages in Manhattan with $168 million in sell-side deals. Modlin himself landed the same spot among the city’s top resale agents. 

— Sheridan Wall