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A group of real estate executives once affiliated with The Corcoran Group’s embattled affiliate Corcoran Global Living are now launching their own new affiliate with Corcoran Group, the brokerage revealed to Inman.
On Monday, Corcoran Icon Properties will officially launch in Northern California as sales associates, staff and executives who formerly ran Corcoran Global Living CEO Michael Mahon’s Northern California region rise from the ashes, executives told Inman exclusively.
The new company will encompass 24 offices and over 900 sales associates and staff who were previously affiliated with well-established independent Northern California real estate brands — before signing on to Corcoran Global Living — including Zephyr Real Estate, Terra Firma Global Partners, MikkiMoves Real Estate, Barry Ward Realty, Caldecott Properties, Discovery Bay Properties, Thrive Real Estate and Highland Partners.
Pamela Liebman | Credit: Corcoran Group
As independent contractors, the agents formerly affiliated with Corcoran Global Living may choose to affiliate with a different company, but are welcome and being encouraged to join Corcoran Icon Properties, a company representative told Inman.
“I’m thrilled to see Corcoran Icon Properties ushering in a new era for Corcoran in Northern California,” Corcoran Group President and CEO Pamela Liebman said in a statement. “With the power of our brand behind them, I’m confident that this team will achieve even greater success in 2023 and beyond.”
The new affiliate will cover operations across six markets from the greater San Francisco Bay Area to Humboldt and Calaveras Counties. CEO Randall Kostick, formerly of Zephyr Real Estate prior to joining Corcoran Global Living, and President Steve Belluomini, formerly of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate JF Finnegan Realtors also prior to joining Corcoran Global Living, will lead operations at the new office.
Randall Kostick | Credit: Corcoran Group
The announcement follows news that Corcoran Global Living CEO Michael Mahon had been battling a series of lawsuits for fraud and breach of contract as agents in Southern California reported severe delays in commission payments. Some Corcoran Global Living offices also had their lights turned off as bills and rent went unpaid.
Separate emails sent out on Monday by Mahon and obtained by Inman stated that the company’s Southern California and Nevada/California Sierra regions’ franchise agreements were being terminated by Corcoran Group, which would “effectively close all offices and operations of the Southern California [and Sierra California and Nevada] region of Corcoran Global Living by December 31, 2022.”
California’s Sierra region is located on the state’s eastern border between the Central Valley and the Great Basin.
Since then, Inman has confirmed with Corcoran Group that the company has terminated its franchise agreement with all of Corcoran Global Living’s regions, and as such, the affiliate is working to wind down all operations by the end of the year.
Corcoran Global Living was Corcoran Group’s largest affiliate, and at its height, boasted approximately 2,600 agents across more than 70 offices.
Corcoran Group executives told Inman the company is also exploring options for new affiliates in many of the markets that Corcoran Global Living previously operated in.
Steve Belluomini | Credit: Corcoran Group
Steve Belluomini, the former regional vice president and partner of Corcoran Global Living Northern California region and now president of Corcoran Icon Properties, told Inman that amidst the upheaval of recent months, the fellowship he’s found in the brokers who formerly led Corcoran Global Living Northern California — and who will now lead the new affiliate — has been at least one rewarding outcome.
“Part of the reason we came in to [Corcoran Global Living] was because of the Northern California group that we were able to talk to before we came in, and there was so much in common with our [companies],” Belluomini said.
“Our best move was to merge with Corcoran Global Living [then] — and it was good. I mean, we’ve worked with a lot of really good people in all the regions that Global Living was in, in SoCal and Nevada and Ohio, and unfortunately, it didn’t go the right way. It went south, and we kind of looked at it, sat down together with our local leadership here and made a decision that we were really good together and there was no way we wanted to be apart.”
Matt Borland | Credit: Corcoran Group
Belluomini added that, as regional executives continued to deal with Mahon’s downfall and the company’s gradual demise over the past several months — and even before then — that Corcoran Group, particularly Liebman and Corcoran Affiliate Network President Stephanie Anton, were supportive guides throughout.
“So the brain trust got together between the NorCal partners and Pam and Stephanie and we came up with an exciting new franchise,” Belluomini said. “When we looked at the direction of what we’re doing, the most important thing for us was to really bring back local leadership in NorCal. Between all the partners that we have from all the different companies we brought in up there, nobody knows it better than the local leadership group and that was really important for us.”
Melody Foster | Credit: Corcoran Group
Matt Borland, former Corcoran Global Living COO and partner, and Melody Foster, former Corcoran Global Living chief experience officer and partner, will be rounding out the new affiliate’s leadership team as COO and chief marketing officer, respectively.
Foster reiterated on a phone call with Inman just how valuable it’s been for partners in the company to find a local group of like-minded real estate leaders, despite everything they’ve been through.
“We found some really like-minded people through this process,” Foster said. “Obviously, the past six months have had some ups and downs, but what we got out of it is some of these really great local relationships with our partners that we’ve built and that get to continue into the future.”
Following Mahon’s announcement about the office closures earlier this week, approximately 70 agents from five Global Living offices in the Nevada/California Sierra region walked over to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties, helmed by broker/owner Gretchen Pearson, RealTrends reported.
“It was an 80 to 90 person region up there for Corcoran Global Living, so we got the bulk of them,” Pearson told RealTrends. “To try and keep as much consistency and calm and peace for the agents involved, we moved in and secured the spaces they are in. It seems like a good fit for us. They are nimble and were able to move quick enough as they work to protect their client’s transactions.”
A representative from First Team/Christie’s International Real Estate also reached out to Inman this week and said that in the past month, more than 125 former Corcoran Global Living Southern California agents representing $360 million in production have joined the company based in Orange County.
“We are very excited to offer these agents a great home with a stable company and give them all the support they deserve,” Michele Harrington, COO of First Team/Christie’s International Real Estate, said in a statement emailed to Inman. “These agents could have gone anywhere but the fact that they chose First Team Christie’s says a lot about the quality of our company and our leadership and I couldn’t be more proud of how our company is growing and evolving.”
RealTrends also reported on Thursday more walk overs of former Global Living agents to Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty, Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty and Cutler Real Estate in Ohio.
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