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Chris Lim is stepping down as president of Christie’s International Real Estate to make way for two new co-presidents to jointly move into the role, the luxury real estate network has informed Inman exclusively.
Chris Lim | Christie’s International Real Estate
Natalie Hamrick, who has been serving as executive vice president of the Americas for nearly two years, and Kevin Van Eck, who has been serving as executive vice president of innovation and education for nearly two years, will now operate in the joint role as co-presidents. Both Hamrick and Van Eck have been with Christie’s International Real Estate and @properties, respectively, for more than 10 years. @properties acquired Christie’s at the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, Lim will remain at the luxury real estate company as a senior advisor and global brand ambassador, with a focus on strengthening the relationship between the real estate business and Christie’s auction house.
Thad Wong | Christie’s International Real Estate
“We’ve got two different people with two skill sets that are really encompassing the entire value proposition we offer,” Christie’s International Real Estate co-CEO Thad Wong told Inman. “Natalie has been with [Christie’s International Real Estate] for well over 10 years, has a clear understanding of the relationship between the auction house, the network and the servicing side, and all the benefits that had been previously at Christie’s International Real Estate prior to our acquisition.
“And Kevin has been at @properties also for more than a decade,” Wong continued. “[He] helped develop a significant portion of the pl@tform — not only the wider framework, but the strategy involved in the technology — was heavily involved in the coaching and training of the agents for the brokerage side of the business, and all of those things are what we offer to our affiliates.”
Pl@tform is @properties’ proprietary tech suite, which the company has also been working to roll out across all Christie’s International Real Estate markets as part of the acquisition.
The co-presidency mirrors the structure Wong has taken as co-CEO with Mike Golden, with each president and CEO able to focus on individual strengths that complement each other, Wong explained.
Kevin Van Eck | Viviana Pernot Gold
“By combining those two people together, I really feel like there’s not a domain that’s part of our value proposition that these two haven’t mastered, and not only are they able to speak to it with profound elegance, they’re able to service it and integrate it through adoption better than anyone I’ve ever met,” Wong said.
In addition to the promotions of Hamrick and Van Eck, Christie’s International Real Estate simultaneously announced the hire of Nidhal Charfi as vice president of affiliate expansion across North America. Charfi previously had worked as senior director of sales and strategic growth at Compass for about seven years, and also founded the sales consultancy company UTTI. His experience also includes past roles at LinkedIn and Oracle. During his time at Compass, Charfi helped grow the brokerage’s annual revenue from $40 million to more than $6 billion.
Nidhal Charfi | Christie’s International Real Estate
“Christie’s International Real Estate has a tremendous opportunity to continue its growth trajectory thanks to its commitment to building and investing in the future of real estate,” Charfi said in a statement. “We have the vision, leadership, technology and brand to keep playing offense and thriving in a marketplace where almost everyone else is playing defense.”
Prior to adopting the executive vice president role at Christie’s International Real Estate, Hamrick held a number of top-level service and strategy positions within the company.
Van Eck held a similar role at @properties prior to becoming Christie’s International Real Estate’s executive vice president of innovation and education. In this role, he played a major role in the company’s technology development and also helped lead marketing, coaching and training programs.
Natalie Hamrick | Christie’s International Real Estate
“I’ve been with Christie’s International Real Estate most of my professional life, and I’ve never seen the type of momentum — either at the corporate or affiliate level — that we have today,” Hamrick said in a statement. “Certainly, the market is presenting challenges, but that is also an opportunity, because we believe we have the best solutions, and we are going to prove it across each and every market in the network.”
In the nearly two years since @properties acquired Christie’s International Real Estate, the firm has added 26 new affiliates to its network, including notable names like the Aaron Kirman Group. The firm has also expanded into 12 new markets during that period, including Miami, Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay area, Germany, Italy, Malta, the Caribbean and more.
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