Douglas Elliman announced today that it will buy Los Angeles-based brokerage Teles Properties, making Douglas Elliman the second largest non-franchise brokerage firm in California.
The deal, expected to close in the second week of August, will bring Douglas Elliman’s California office count to 21, with 630 sales associates in the Golden State, and expands its Colorado presence to five offices and 58 associates. The acquisition also adds a Boulder, Colorado location to Douglas Elliman’s brokerage, which already operates in four locations in the Centennial State, specifically in Aspen and Snowmass Village.
Across the United States, New York City-based Douglas Elliman will now have 110 offices and more than 7,000 agents.
Howard Lorber of Douglas Elliman
Teles partners Peter Loewy, Sharran Srivatsaa, Peter Hernandez and Evan Ageloff will continue to have “integral roles” with Douglas Elliman’s Western Region, which is headed by Stephen Kotler. He will expand his role as CEO of the Western Region in overseeing operations throughout California and Colorado.
In 2016, Douglas Elliman accounted for more than $27.4 billion in total closed sales volume nationwide.
“Our search for an exceptional company that offered unrivaled technology and marketing platforms, whose agents mirrored the entrepreneurial spirit of Douglas Elliman, led us straight to Teles Properties,” said Howard Lorber, chairman of Douglas Elliman Realty. “Teles’ well known reputation as a major driving force for the past 10 years, combined with Peter Loewy, Peter Hernandez, Sharran Srivatsaa and Evan Ageloff’s leadership experience, make this an ideal union.”
“Our agents know us well enough to know that we are there for them,” added Loewy, who stressed that he and the leadership team intended to stay on and help grow the company in California.
Teles executive Peter Hernandez will stay on as president of brokerage for California, as will Evan Ageloff, who will serve as COO of the Western Region. Srivatsaa will be president of Douglas Elliman’s Western Region.
“We have heard about disasters with franchises buying brokerages, and we will be sure to learn from that. We are both privately run businesses — it’s very different. It’s an attractive deal for both companies,” said Kotler.
Established in 2007, Teles Properties has specialized in luxury homes in California and Colorado. Since 2012, the company has done over $15 billion in cumulative sales, doing $3.4 billion in sales in 2016.
“After a decade of growing this company to nearly 600 licensed professionals and staff, I consider this union with Douglas Elliman to be our best growth initiative yet,” said Loewy, who will serve as chief executive officer of brokerage for California. “We are gaining exposure in markets around the world via Elliman’s global alliance with Knight Frank and elevating our strategic planning in order to optimize growth as well as agent and customer satisfaction.”
Loewy and Kotler said the company would likely be filling in more of the combined company’s California footprint from Carmel to Coronado in the coming months and that the San Francisco Bay Area market was also on the radar. It would be in the top five targets in the next 12 months.
Expansion to Northern California would most likely be led by demand from a new development, said Kotler.
The CEO said he had been fielding calls this morning from brokers and brokerages offering their services and businesses to Douglas Elliman in light of today’s announcement.
“We plan to be the biggest player in California,” said the Western Region CEO, a challenge to the number one non-franchise player, Pacific Union International.