October 30th 2013
Real Estate Weekly
Last Thursday, REBNY celebrated its 25th Residential Brokerage Division Deal of the Year Charity and Awards Gala. The event, held in the Grand Ballroom of the Pierre, continued the tradition of celebrating the best and brightest in residential real estate.
The evening featured the presentation of the Deal of the Year Awards, the Most Promising Residential Rookie Salesperson of the Year Award and the prestigious Henry Foster Award. Each year, REBNY’s Residential Board of Directors combs through countless nominations to select the two most impressive deals amongst seemingly all of the City’s re-sales, new development sales, and rental transactions, as well as two individuals most worthy of praise.
This year’s Deal of the Year Award for Sales went to Heather Stein of Brown Harris Stevens. Her determination in the face of the seller’s capital gains issues, need for a new apartment, and a mortgage appraisal lower than the sale price proved her tremendous skill. In a perfect storm of deal complications, Heather juggled five complex interrelated transactions to close the deal in the weeks following Hurricane Sandy. The 2nd prize went to Suzan Kremer of Douglas Elliman Real Estate for a deal co-brokered with Daniela Kunen also of Douglas Elliman and J. Roger Erickson of Sotheby’s International Realty. 3rd place went to Lisa Larson of Warburg Realty Partnership.
The Rental Deal of the Year Award went to a team of Halstead brokers for their negotiation of a lease for two floors in a mansion-sized five-story townhouse. Judith Oston and Donald Correia lead the deal, co-brokered with their colleague Lisa Rosenstein. To complete this rental, the Halstead team had to convince the owners to remove decadent furnishings, piece by piece, to make room for the tenant’s belongings. After hundreds of emails and hours of negotiations, an upsettingly detailed lease rider, and an agreement for monthly free dinners and brunches, the lease was finalized.
In addition to the Deal of the Year awards, REBNY honored two individuals that standout in our industry. The Most Promising Residential Rookie Salesperson of the Year, which recognizes current and potential professional achievement as well as high moral character and ethical professional conduct, went to Vincent Smith of Halstead Property. The most prestigious award of the night, the Henry Foster Award, was presented to Jeffrey Rothstein of Douglas Elliman Real Estate for his outstanding record of achievement and conduct within both the industry and the community. It recognized Jeffrey’s outstanding leadership within REBNY and the generosity of his time and talents to so many worthy New York charitable organizations. The Charity Awards Gala also featured a special acknowledgement of past award winners and an In Memoriam tribute to those who have passed away.
The residential real estate community came out in full force, as we had a full house with more than 600 attendees. The proceeds for the event will go to REBNY’s Member In Need Fund, established to benefit REBNY members who are experiencing crisis or hardship.