12/03/08

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Elliman jumps on the next Brooklyn

If Prudential Douglas Elliman is to fulfill its self-proclaimed "Manhattan to Montauk" mandate, it will have to conquer the borough of Queens, in between Manhattan and Long Island.

Dottie Herman, CEO of Prudential, started her infill campaign last month, picking up Goldmark Realty in Flushing. The sale price was not disclosed.

Prudential, which already has an office in Bayside, gains one office and 100 sales associates with the acquisition.

The company now has more than 220 agents in Queens.

Herman said she sees Queens - which some are calling the next Brooklyn - as an "emerging market."

"This is an area with three centuries of history and over 2 million residents," said Herman, adding that Flushing is the borough's fastest growing neighborhood.

Herman also noted that the immigrant-dominated communities in many parts of Queens, like Flushing, which is largely Asian, place a high value on real estate.

"A lot of people who buy real estate there are big believers in real estate," she said.

Other parts of Queens, like Long Island City, are also poised for significant growth. As part of the Queens West project and other developments slated for the area, a minimum of 5,000 new units are expected in the next seven years.

Herman said one of the main obstacles in establishing a presence in Queens is that there are few big brokerages that dominate the borough's market.

"I couldn't find any brokerages to buy there, of any size - this was one of the only ones," she said. "Mostly it's two- or three-person offices."

Goldmark projects sales of more than $60 million for 2004, according to Prudential.