Inman

Engel & Völkers launches in Brooklyn amid luxury real estate boom

Magazine Imobiliário/Inman

Global luxury real estate brand Engel & Völkers announced Thursday it’s entering the Brooklyn market with three new offices led by Donald Brennan, a longtime residential real estate leader in New York City.

The new locations will operate under the name Engel & Völkers Brownstone Brooklyn with locations in Dumbo, Prospect Heights and Cobble Hill.

“Brooklyn continually represents some of the most sought after real estate in the country, attracting buyers both foreign and domestic,” Anthony Hitt, president and CEO, Engel & Völkers Americas said in a statement.

Brennan founded and ran Brennan Real Estate for the last decade, which is being rebranded as Engel & Völkers Brownstone Brooklyn.

The move into Brooklyn comes at a time of significant U.S. expansion for the franchisor. In 2019, Engel & Völkers will open new offices in Napa/St. Helena, California; Little Rock, Arkansas; a joint office covering Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Indianapolis, Indiana; Annapolis, Maryland and Telluride, Colorado.

Hitt told Inman in March that the biggest impetus behind choosing expansion markets is finding the right partner. It seems they’ve found that in Brennan.

“[Brennan’s] deep market knowledge, accrued through decades of on-the-ground experience, and his hands-on, client-first approach to service makes him the ideal partner to bring Engel & Völkers to this ever-changing and complex market,” Hitt said. “Our entrance into the robust Brooklyn area, specifically in brownstone Brooklyn, is exactly where we want to be and is indicative of a sophisticated and rapid time of growth for Engel & Völkers here in the Americas and globally.”

The three neighborhoods selected by Engel & Völkers primarily consist of brownstone properties as well as luxury condominiums. Values in some Brooklyn neighborhoods climb north of $40 million per acre, according to Engel & Völkers.

“Now more than ever in this shifting market, it is vital that our sellers are able to expose their assets to the largest possible pool of potential buyers,” said Brennan. “Engel & Völkers is the only real estate company operating in our local market that has the ability to meet this seller requirement.”

“We are able to disseminate our clients’ listings domestically, globally and seamlessly through Engel & Völkers’ collaborative network, while operating at the highest levels of quality and service to deliver each client a comprehensive yet personally tailored experience,” Brennan added.

Engel & Völkers operates a global real estate franchise network consisting of more than 11,000 agents in more than 30 countries. It was founded in 1977 in Hamburg, Germany.

Email Patrick Kearns