Blackburn and Barak
The six-person Barak/Blackburn Group has moved from Prudential Douglas Elliman to the Corcoran Group. The group, led by Lior Barak and Christine Blackburn, has focused mostly on Brooklyn and will operate out of Corcoran’s 241 Bedford Avenue office in Williamsburg. Since they partnered in 2006, Barak and Blackburn have made more than $400 million in sales, according to a Corcoran statement announcing the move.
Barak said the team made its move last Monday, June 7 — the same day that it informed Elliman of its departure. Even so, Barak said that there are no hard feelings between his team and his former brokerage.
A spokesperson for Elliman declined to comment.
Barak said he wanted to make the switch because he believes Corcoran is “more active” in the Brooklyn market.
“We felt [that] Corcoran has a big market share in Brooklyn and Williamsburg and we liked what they do,” Barak said, adding that his group plans to also pursue work in Lower Manhattan.
In The Real Deal’s May issue, Corcoran beat Elliman in a ranking of Brooklyn’s biggest firms, with 233 agents — more than twice as many as Elliman’s 104.
Barak said that he didn’t seriously consider joining another firm because “there are not really any other companies [aside from Corcoran and Elliman] that have a significant market share,” in the city, in his opinion.
A Corcoran spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.