Elliman embarks on downtown shake-up | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

Elliman embarks on downtown shake-up

Firm plans Wall Street and East Village expansions, plus new leadership for Tribeca office November 29, 2011 05:30PM By Leigh Kamping-Carder
Prudential Douglas Elliman is planning major changes to its downtown operations, including opening a new office in the Financial District, expanding its East 10th Street office to a new location, and replacing the head of its Hudson Street office in Tribeca.
"Basically, they want to do a little bit of reorganization of Elliman downtown," said Chris Peters, a senior executive vice president at the firm and director of sales at its 26 West 17th Street office, who will take over as head of the Hudson Street office. "You don't get growth without change."
To that end, the firm is scouting locations for its first Lower Manhattan location, a new office near Wall Street, which will focus on rentals. Headed by Mark Menendez, an executive vice president and the firm's director of rentals, the new office will likely open in the next six months, Peters said. Though he was unsure how many agents will ultimately work there, Peters said the office will stay small.
Meanwhile, the firm is close to signing a lease to move its growing office at 51 East 10th Street to a nearby ground-floor retail space at 774 Broadway on the corner of East 9th Street, although nothing has been finalized yet.
At roughly 4,200 square feet, the new space would nearly triple the size of the office's existing location between Broadway and University Place, said Gary Cannata, an executive vice president and the office's director of sales. "We maxed out," Cannata said of the current space. "We're doing gangbusters business."
Formerly the site of a Blockbuster video store, the new locale would take about four to six months to revamp, said Cannata, who expects to open in June. He anticipates nearly doubling the number of agents working there, to between 55 and 60 agents. The office is home to top-producing brokers Raphael DeNiro and Debra Kameros.
Lastly, Elliman's office at 90 Hudson Street between Leonard and Harrison streets will get new leadership, with Peters taking over the reins from Kenneth Malian,who helped found the office in the mid-1990s.
Malian, a senior executive vice president and Hudson Street's director of sales, notified the firm about a month ago that he would be leaving the position, Peters said, although he plans to stay on as a consultant and help with training activities. Malian did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Malian recently co-founded GreenRose Enterprises, a Glen Ridge, N.J.-based real estate firm that purchases and renovates "problem" residential properties.
Peters will split his time between Hudson Street and the West 17th Street office, which he has headed up since joining Elliman 11 years ago. Christina Hanson, currently the West 17th Street branch manager, will act as assistant manager there, while Menendez and the firm's chief digital officer, Dawn Doherty, will act as assistant managers at Hudson Street, Peters said.

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