Oren Alexander’s longtime associate, Isaac Lustgarten, exited Official and joined the Corcoran Group, The Real Deal has learned.
Lustgarten is the latest agent to depart Official since sexual assault and rape allegations were made in civil lawsuits against Oren, Tal and Alon Alexander. The brothers have denied the claims.
Lustgarten led the now-defunct Alexander Team in South Florida alongside Oren Alexander, while Oren and Tal Alexander built their careers at Douglas Elliman. The brothers left Elliman in 2022 to launch the Side-backed Official with co-founders Nicole Oge, Richard Jordan and Andrew Wachtfogel. Lustgarten followed the brothers and joined Official as a founding agent.
Lustgarten’s license was moved to Corcoran Oct. 1, state records show. His page is still active on Official’s website as of Oct. 7, and his top listing was the nearly $29 million listing of a penthouse at Turnberry Ocean Club in Sunny Isles Beach. Developer Jeffrey Soffer’s Turnberry Development still owns the unit. Lustgarten took over Oren Alexander’s listings this summer, including that of the penthouse. A spokesperson for Turnberry Ocean Club said the penthouse listing was canceled.
Lustgarten and Official did not respond to requests for comment.
Last month, Jared Schwadron, who also worked with the Alexander brothers since their run as top performers at Douglas Elliman, joined Compass. More than a dozen agents have left Official, including its entire California outpost. Official pulled out of the lease for its Aspen office just months after setting up shop in the luxury ski town.
Official has just six agents left in Florida, including Sarah Miller and Price Hassan, records show. Donnie Pingaro, vice president of operations at Side, is still Official’s managing broker.
Oren and Tal Alexander stepped back from Official after both brothers were sued by women who accused them of sexual assaults in separate incidents. Since TRD first reported in June on two civil lawsuits filed against Oren Alexander, more than a dozen women have come forward with accounts that they were assaulted by one or more of the brothers in claims that have been detailed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Insider.
The brothers allegedly threatened their business partners with legal action if they decided to vote them out of Official, so Oge, Jordan and Wachtfogel left the firm instead, sources told TRD. Oren and Tal took over as the sole owners of Official effective Aug. 15, but their real estate licenses are inactive.
Official was handling sales and marketing for luxury condo projects in South Florida, including Michael Stern’s Dolce & Gabbana-branded condo in Brickell, Shvo’s Rosewood-branded condo at the Raleigh in Miami Beach, and Jonathan Landau’s boutique Bay Harbor Islands project called Indian Creek Residences & Yacht Club. Stern and Michael Shvo cut ties with Official, but Landau’s Landau Properties kept Official for months.
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A spokesperson for Indian Creek Residences & Yacht Club said on Monday that the developer has selected a new sales team and will share more information “in the coming weeks.” The spokesperson did not answer whether Corcoran will take over sales.
Since the rape allegations were reported this summer, the FBI began investigating the brothers and has also interviewed women who were allegedly assaulted by them.
Sheridan Wall contributed reporting.