12/02/08

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DeNiro management splits in three

Top to bottom: Steven Kopstein, Greg Leveridge and S. Hunie Kwon.

In the wake of the departure of Christopher Mathieson, the president and partner who left JC DeNiro in September, the firm has created a new position called “gallery manager” – and given three of its brokers the new title.

Steven Kopstein, Greg Leveridge and S. Hunie Kwon have been promoted from associate brokers in DeNiro’s three Manhattan offices (Upper West Side, Chelsea and West Village). The company, which refers to its offices as “galleries,” made the promotions in mid-November.

The gallery managers will make up a new on-the-ground team to supplement company president Jack DeNiro, who works out of his Miami office, while visiting the Manhattan outposts at least once every two weeks.

Kopstein told The Real Deal that DeNiro believes the new three-pronged structure is more effective than having one general manager in New York, partially because each of the new gallery managers has already worked closely with the brokers in his office and is familiar with their styles.

“We’re not a churn-and-burn company,” Kwon said. “We really make agents into the best type of agents they can be.”

The company’s Upper West Side office has five brokers, its Chelsea office has 10 and its West Village office has another 10.

Kopstein said he is working with the brokers in his office to help them increase production, but is still taking on his own listings.

Greg Leveridge said his new position includes training and hiring agents, as well as acting as a liaison between the New York agents and DeNiro. “Everyone can’t just run to Florida to seek management,” Leveridge said.