Acquisitions Gold Rush continues in Long Island

New York-based Prudential Douglas Elliman strengthened its “Manhattan to Montauk” mantra with the acquisition of Goodstein Realty, a firm with more than 145 agents and $355 million in closed sales volume in 2003. The move is part of a wave of aggressive acquisitions activity in the Long Island region, where major competitors are gobbling up smaller boutique brokers in quick succession to get a bigger share of a booming market.

Lara Berdine, a spokeswoman for Elliman, said the acquisition of Goodstein Realty’s offices in Great Neck and Roslyn give the company its first offices on the North Shore of Long Island. The move fills “a gap in the road from ‘Manhattan to Montauk,'” she said, referring to Elliman’s string of offices from New York City to Long Island.

Elliman in November announced the acquisition of Celic Realty, a full-service company with about 35 employees operating in the North Fork area of Long Island. The Corcoran Group and parent NRT, a subsidiary of Cendant Corp., have also made big moves for smaller brokerages in the Long Island area. Corcoran picked up Easthamptons-based Cook Pony Farm Real Estate in October and Hamptons-area real estate powerhouse Dayton/Halstead LLC in March. NRT’s February acquisition of Sotheby’s International Realty also included three Hamptons-area offices.