For the fourth consecutive year, Halstead Property named Richard Orenstein its broker of the year in New York and New Jersey, as well as broker of the year for Soho, at its annual meeting at the end of February.
Orenstein, who works out of the firm’s Soho office, was named top broker every year since 2011, as The Real Deal previously reported. Orenstein closed on high-profile listings in 2013, including a Tribeca home at 39 Vestry Street that sold to a co-creator of CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” for $6.6 million.
Other award winners include Brian Lewis, a top producer at Halstead who closed the highest number of deals in 2013, marking his third consecutive year doing so. Lewis, who currently is representing about 19 listings ranging from $500,000 to $6.2 million, was also named broker of the year for the West Side office.
Vanessa Connelly was named top new development marketing broker for 2013. Connelly has marketed properties including Northside Piers and Toren, and is currently handling sales at the Downtown Brooklyn tower at 388 Bridge Street. Mark Levin earned the top honor for Halstead’s commercial division.
Louise Phillips Forbes, based at Halstead’s Park Avenue office, was the company-wide top listing broker of the year.
Renee Fishman picked up an award for developing the highest Klout score, a measure of social media influence. Fishman has more than 3,000 followers on Twitter and The Real Deal recently listed her handle among the top ten real estate-related accounts to follow.
Halstead also honored brokers with a new Diamond Award, given to agents that closed the biggest deals in 2013. Recipients were Nora Ariffin and Christopher Kromer, who together brokered the $25 million sale of Jeff Gordon’s apartment at 15 Central Park West.
The firm also inducted a number of brokers into its so-called Diamond Club, which includes agents who have closed transactions worth $10 million or more. Inductees in 2013 included Julia Boland and Elaine Tross, who also won the company’s Helping Hands award. – Angela Hunt