In the middle of the summer, when it seemed like everybody had an opinion on the future of New York City — including comedian Jerry Seinfeld — Compass CEO Robert Reffkin was clear that “No, New York City isn’t dead.”
Jordan Sachs | Photo credit: Bold
On Tuesday, Reffkin put Compass’ money where his mouth is, acquiring Bold, a 10-year-old New York City-based luxury leasing firm with more than 100 agents serving Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
The acquisition will bolster Compass’ new development division and position the firm to be entrenched further in the center of the city’s ongoing recovery as the once epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re incredibly excited to join forces with Compass,” Bold CEO Jordan Sachs said in a statement. “With hundreds of offices throughout the country, thousands of the most collaborative agents in the industry and world-class marketing and technology — this partnership with Compass provides us with a tremendous opportunity to scale our expertise and take our business to the next level.”
Bold also has a nascent presence in New Jersey, where it has committed new development projects, but nothing is officially live yet.
The acquisition is Compass’ first significant acquisition in its home city since it acquired Stribling & Associates, a top New York City rival, in April 2019, amid of period of voracious growth for the company.
New York City’s rental sector has been on a steady recovery trajectory since plummeting in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 2021 saw the highest number of lease signings in Manhattan in nearly 13 years of tracking, according to a monthly market report from Douglas Elliman, compiled by Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel.
The move also comes as Compass makes its push to become a publicly traded company. The national real estate brokerage recently announced it confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.
