UPDATED, 1:22 p.m., April 26: New development guru Reid Price has joined Douglas Elliman just days after suddenly leaving Andrew Heiberger’s Town Residential. Price had been the managing director of Town’s new development and sales division and will hold the title of executive vice president of development marketing at Elliman.
At Elliman, Price will work with new development chief Susan de Franca and managing director Horacio LeDon on the marketing of projects such as the 33-unit Sterling Mason at 71 Laight Street in Tribeca, according to a statement from the firm.
“At this point in my career, it was important to me to be with a company that I see as a leader in our industry,” Reid told The Real Deal today. “I wanted to align myself with some of the best in the business. Susan de Franca: it doesn’t get much better than that.”
In a statement, de Franca said: “Reid has exceptional talent and will bring a great deal to our highly successful formula pairing top agents with top developers to market and sell some of the city’s most coveted properties.”
Price was one of the first recruits to Heiberger’s two-year-old brokerage in 2010. Heiberger told The Real Deal on Tuesday that he was “unaware of the reasons” for the executive’s decision to leave the company.
Reacting to news of Price’s arrival at Elliman today, a spokesperson for the firm noted a non-compete agreement to which Reid is allegedly subject: “Now that we understand Mr. Price’s motive and direction, and due to the fact that Mr. Price is under contract and has many outstanding obligations, we can no longer comment on his departure, character, skills or otherwise,” the spokesperson said.
Price declined to comment on any non-compete agreement he had with Town.
Heiberger previously said Price’s departure was ironic, since it came during the same week the firm was set to launch two new development projects.
Town is set to launch sales at the 29-unit Charles condo at 1355 First Avenue in the coming weeks, having secured the Attorney General’s approval for its offering plan, but the nature of the second project was not clear. Heiberger declined to comment on the second project.
Price said he wished Town the best. “I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into [Town,]” he said. “I love all of them to death.”