Aptsandlofts.com, the Williamsburg-based sales and rental brokerage, has tapped industry veteran Chris Havens of Creative Real Estate Group to head its new commercial division, the company announced today.
Havens, who founded Creative Real Estate Group, a brokerage representing commercial landlords and tenants, in 2007, will now head a team of five commercial brokers at Aptsandlofts.com. His colleague, Francis DeCarlo, will also be joining David Maundrell’s firm. “I needed a bigger platform,” Havens told The Real Deal today. “I’d been focusing on Downtown Brooklyn and Dumbo [at Creative] so this helps me expand my territory into Northern Brooklyn.”
In his new role, Havens will be responsible for overseeing operations in the commercial division, developing the brokerage’s retail presence and expanding its reach within the Brooklyn office market, according to a statement from the firm.
He added that Aptsandlofts.com will now be able to effectively find tenants for the retail spaces in residential buildings it is marketing.
“Most owners like one-stop shopping,” he said, rather than dealing with a residential brokerage to market condos and rentals and with a commercial brokerage for retail in the same building.
At Creative, Havens acted as co-agent with CBRE for buildings like 16 Court Street and oversaw leasing at 32 Court Street and at 471 Vanderbilt Avenue. That company has now been disbanded. Prior to starting Creative, he worked as director of leasing for Jed Walentas’ Two Trees Management in Dumbo.
Aptsandlofts.com worked in retail and commercial leasing throughout Brooklyn prior to hiring Havens, a spokesperson for the firm said, but commercial leasing was “never a strong focus until now.” The firm previously marketed commercial condominiums in Greenpoint and is currently representing a selection of units at Industry City in Sunset Park.
Havens will be working out of the firm’s new office in Cobble Hill once it opens later this summer. The office, Aptsandlofts.com’s second storefront retail space, will accommodate 40 agents and three support staff. The office is at 236 Court Street, on the corner of Baltic Street. – Katherine Clarke