Ari LeFauve and Lyon Porter, two of MNS’ most highly ranked resale brokers, have joined Town Residential, Town told The Real Deal today, along with other new hires from Core and the Corcoran Group.
The loss of the duo may be a blow for the brokerage headed by Andrew Barrocas, where LeFauve, a then senior vice president, had been the company’s first ranked resales agent for five of the last six years, losing out only to Porter, also a senior vice president, in 2009. An MNS spokesperson noted, however, that those honors were shared between several brokers at the firm.
The pair will work out of Town’s Flatiron office, which is headed by Wendy Maitland, managing director of both Town Flatiron and Town West Village.
“Ari and Lyon are true rising stars in our industry,” Maitland said in a statement. “Like many others, they have taken notice of what we’ve accomplished at Town and believe that partnering with us can help take their business to a whole new level… Not only does this further strengthen our formidable team, it also demonstrates yet again that industry leaders believe in the transformational approach Town has taken to redefining real estate services in Manhattan.”
In a statement, Barrocas said he wished LeFauve and Porter well: “Ari and Lyon were amongst the top resale agents at MNS,” he said, “and I’m proud to have spent the last nine and six years working with them, respectively.”
LeFauve said he and Porter were attracted to Town for its reputation for innovation.
“The firm has raised the bar in our industry and has already begun to redefine what New Yorkers expect from real estate professionals,” he said.
David Grossman and Veronica Matto of Core and Jill Camac of Corcoran have also joined Town in recent days, Town said.
“The positive energy and innovative services are evident at Town and made this an easy decision for me,” Camac explained, while Grossman noted that “the business philosophy at Town is completely relationship- and service-oriented.”
In a statement to The Real Deal Core CEO Shaun Osher said of Grossman and Matto’s departure: “As a boutique agency who provides the highest level of service in our industry to our agents, we expect a high level of performance. Unfortunately David Grossmann and Veronica Matto did not meet this level and were asked to leave. We wish them well.”
As The Real Deal previously reported, Town is opening its sixth office on the Upper East Side this week (today The Real Deal learned it was tonight) at 239 East 79th Street. The company has five other offices throughout the city, including locations in the West Village, Flatiron District, the Financial District, Astor Place and Midtown.