T
he Agency, a brokerage firm, has recently expanded its operations by opening a new office in Park Slope, Brooklyn. This move marks the company's second establishment in New York City, following its debut in Union Square two years ago after acquiring Triplemint. The new office at 443 4th Street will be home to seven agents, including a team previously known as New Millennium Real Estate Corp., which consists of agents Donald Minerva, Chad Kessler, and Emilia Kovacs. This team specializes in rentals within neighborhoods such as Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and Cobble Hill. The company is expected to list an apartment rental at 215 Court Street for around $6,500 to $7,000 later this week.
The firm's expansion into Brooklyn comes as a result of "record demand" for properties in the area, according to Donald Mastroianni, who serves as the office's managing partner alongside Michael Smith. In the second quarter of this year, Brooklyn reached an all-time high median sale price of nearly $1 million, which some brokers attribute to increased demand from first-time homebuyers, particularly in North Brooklyn.
With the addition of the Park Slope office, The Agency now has a total of seven outposts in New York State, including a location on Fire Island also led by Smith and Mastroianni, which opened earlier this summer. Last year, the company launched its first Hamptons office with a grand opening at the Hampton Classic Horse Show Labor Day weekend. This shop, now operating in Bridgehampton and East Hampton, is managed by Million Dollar Listing star Tyler Whitman and longtime Sotheby’s International broker Dana Trotter.
"Our continued expansion in New York marks a significant milestone in The Agency's strategic growth in the region," said CEO and founder Mauricio Umansky. Umansky and Compass agent Jason Haber launched a new trade group earlier this year called the American Real Estate Association, designed to provide agents with an alternative to the industry's leading organization, the National Association of Realtors. This new organization began offering memberships last month, with prices ranging from $20 to $1,500.
