Inman

Century 21 CEO resigns

Tom Kunz, Century 21 Real Estate’s president and CEO since June 2004, has resigned his position, the company announced Thursday.

Rick Davidson will take over the position immediately. Realogy, Century 21’s parent company, transferred Davidson from two other subsidiaries, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, where he was chief operating officer, and Coldwell Bank Commercial Affiliates, where he was president and COO.

The company declined to comment on the reason behind Kunz’s resignation.

"We thank Tom Kunz for his many years of service to the Century 21 system, and we wish him well in the future," said Alex Perriello, Realogy’s president.

Kunz joined the Century 21 system in 1982, according to the company’s Web site.

Century 21 is the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization with more than 7,700 offices and 117,000 sales associates globally, according to the company.

Perriello also welcomed Davidson, who is a licensed broker in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry. In 2003, he founded Coldwell Banker Commercial Capitol Realty Services, a commercial brokerage firm in the D.C. metro area.

In May 2006, he became Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates’ president and COO, and almost exactly one year ago added COO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate to his resume. In these roles he oversaw the company’s residential and commercial operations across the globe. …CONTINUED

"Rick brings a unique mix of leadership experience from the residential and commercial real estate industries along with a strategic focus on growth. He is a proven leader as the head of a franchise network, and as a former franchise owner of a Realogy brand, he also understands the franchisee perspective," Perriello said.

Frank Schmidt, senior vice president of the Realogy Global Client Solutions group since late 2008, will now take over Davidson’s positions at Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates.

"Fred has a demonstrated record of success in building relationships with and developing significant new business opportunities on behalf of our commercial broker network," Perriello said, in a statement.

Schmidt has more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He joined Coldwell Banker Commercial in 2003.

The Coldwell Banker brand is the country’s oldest real estate organization and one of the largest, with about 3,300 offices and about 100,000 sales associates worldwide, according to the company’s Web site.

"I am especially pleased that we were able to make these executive appointments from within Realogy, which speaks to the high level of managerial talent that exists across our organization," Perriello said.

A search is under way for a replacement for Davidson’s previous post as COO for Coldwell Banker Real Estate, according to company spokesman David Siroty.

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