Press
Sightings
11/3/2011 – New York Post
Developer Harry Macklowe and Corcoran Group broker Tim Davis dining at separate tables at Marea.
Dibs on $9.5M Hamptons manse
10/20/2011 – New York Post
Michael Bruno, founder of 1stdibs.com, a home-design marketplace for professionals and amateurs alike, just closed on a $9.5 million Hamptons mansion. The 3,500-square-foot, cedar-shingled house on South Main Street in Southampton has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Built in 1958, it sits on 1.7 acres and includes two fireplaces, a waterside pool and 245 feet of frontage on Lake Agawam.
LI homes for sale with a history to tell
9/23/2011 – Newsday
Homes always are stories. Modern homes are short stories. Historic homes are novels. The Peace and Plenty Inn, for example, could be the tableau for a narrative about Colonial days.
The Gardiner Estate: A Breath-Taking Property
8/23/2011 – PlumTV.com
Looking to buy? Tim Davis, Regional Brokerage Advisor for the East End joins Cristina Cuomo on Plum Daily. He describes the layout, architecture and more in the one-of-a-kind Gardiner Estate.
Contemporary Comeback
8/12/2011 – Hamptons Magazine
Hamptons real estate experts talk industry trends and the shift toward modern design. Tim Davis Senior Vice President, Regional Brokerage Advisor, East End, The Corcoran Group What can you do.
Best Sellers
7/29/2011 – Hamptons Magazine
TIM DAVIS The Corcoran Group Years in real estate: 31 Lives in: Southampton Notable Accomplishment: Consistently listed amongst the top 10 producing brokers on the East End.
Windmill Lane Beckons
7/7/2011 – Hamptons Magazine
In a nod to classic Hamptons architecture this two-story pied-à-terre is reminiscent of a cottage gone extravagantly modern. Designed by renowned architect Frank Greenwald
Summer, after the fall
6/22/2011 – The New York Observer
THE OUTLOOK FOR SUMMER IN THE HAMPTONS IS CLOUDS, CLEARING. And we’re not talking about the weather. 25 Winthrop Lane, Shelter Island, master bedroom deck.
Arresting Lines
6/17/2011 – Hamptons Magazine
Explore Southampton’s mesmerizing dunescape and spectacular oceanfront from your living room.
Can’t choose which Hamptons view you prefer most? Have it all with this contemporary Southampton palace. With a light-taupe hue, this concrete and stucco six-bedroom home blends seamlessly with the adiacent sandy dunes, while its geometric structure clearly distinguishes it from its environment. Designed by renowned architect Ward Bennett, the beachfront dwelling is the epitome of modern sophistication. Thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, homeowners can enjoy spectacular glimpses of the ocean, bay or dunes from virtually every room. The sightlines continue to impress from the gunite swimming pool and tiled poolside deck, perfect for outdoor entertaining. Show guests to the all-weather tennis court encircled by mature trees for hours of summer activities before walking down to relax on the beach. Talk about the best of worlds. Listed at $24.5 million by Tim Davis, The Corcoran Group, Southampton, 283-7300.
Bauhaus Beach Living
6/15/2011 – Hamptons Magazine
Can’t choose which Hamptons view you prefer most? Have it all with this contemporary Southampton palace. With a light-taupe hue, this concrete and stucco six-bedroom home blends seamlessly with the adjacent sandy dunes, while its geometric structure clearly distinguishes it from its environment. Designed by renowned architect Ward Bennett, the beachfront dwelling is the epitome of modern sophistication. Thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, homeowners can enjoy spectacular glimpses of the ocean, bay or dunes from virtually every room. The sightlines continue to impress from the gunite swimming pool and tiled poolside deck, perfect for outdoor entertaining. Show guests to the all-weather tennis court encircled by mature trees for hours of summer activities before walking down to relax on the beach. Talk about the best of both worlds. Listed at $24.5 million by Tim Davis, The Corcoran Group, Southampton, 283-7300
Q & A with top Hamptons broker Tim Davis
6/10/2011 – The Real Deal
The Corcoran broker talks about the ups and downs of the East End market as the summer takes off, and, of course, having Dolly Lenz, of a rival firm, as a client
What may be fairly obvious is that Tim Davis, with 28 listings, worth about $292 million, is one of the top brokers in the Hamptons.
Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty may have more listings in the wealthy beachside getaway, with 31, and for more expensive homes — a total of $378 million, with some prices not even disclosed. But Davis clearly is outmuscling agents like Peter Turino of Brown Harris Stevens, another major earner, whose 12 listings total $136 million.
Plus, the Corcoran Group’s Davis, a 30-year Hamptons real estate veteran, had a hand in last year’s biggest brokered deal: the $38.5 million sale of a colonial house on 15 acres to a group of buyers that included designer Tory Burch (the property was carved into three lots for the deal to happen).
Comfortably navigating the overlapping Hamptons circles of Hollywood and Wall Street, Davis also counts New York real estate bigwigs among his clients, like Mary Ann Tighe, CEO for the tri-state region at CB Richard Ellis, and Leslie Himmel, a managing partner at Himmel + Meringoff Properties.
But the real estate client that has really gotten tongues wagging recently is Dolly Lenz, the uber Prudential Douglas Elliman agent, who has apparently crossed party lines and chosen a Corcoran broker to help sell her Cobb Hill Lane home. That seven-bedroom Water Mill contemporary home, with a pool, tennis court and a carriage house, has lingered on the market for a year.
In a conversation with The Real Deal, Davis, who recently quit his management duties to concentrate on selling homes, offers his theory why an Elliman broker would turn to Corcoran for help; why the Hamptons property market is not out of the woods just yet; and why the trophy homes are actually doing well.
Elliman’s Laura Nigro was marketing Lenz’s house last year. Now you and Lenz have it as a co-exclusive. Why do you think Lenz turned to you?
I’m not quite sure. I have known Dolly for some time. And I think she was looking for new energy and added value with marketing and services that I can provide to the seller. Do I think it’s unusual? I think she is a smart business woman, and she’s looking to be creative about getting her property sold.
What it’s like working with Lenz, who many describe as a tough-as-nails broker who is the biggest agent in the country?
She definitely takes a hands-on approach like she does with all of her business. She is very involved with using photography. I had her house photographed several times by the same photographer. Then she had her own photographer come in and shoot it, and we used some of those pictures, too. And she chose the photos that would work.
In a soft market, why did you raise the price from last year to this year, to $5.9 million from $5.495 million?
It went up because she spent $1 million on renovations and redecorations in order to make the property fresh and new to the market, which is what most buyers are looking for. She completely refurnished the house, and staged it, if you will. She added moldings, replaced carpets and completely decorated it with new finishes, accessories, artwork… The property really looks fantastic.
The median sales price has dipped in the Hamptons in recent months, but you have said that the $15 million-plus market is a sweet spot. Explain.
That is accurate. There have been more sales of those homes since January than we saw in all of 2010 and in all of 2009, actually about 20 at that price point.
I think the diversification of assets on Wall Street explains it. Buyers are pulling funds out of the market to invest them. I now have six listings that are over $15 million, and I think I have a very good chance of selling three of those listings by the end of January. Now you’re probably going to check back in with me to see if I did it.
But overall, prices have dropped, fewer homes are selling, and those that do are taking much longer to do so. Why the struggles?
One of the challenges with our market is that we are not selling like-kind properties. It’s not like buying an apartment based on the view [or] floor plan. For us, it’s all very subjective. One view can add tremendous value to a home, but the one right next-door may not have that view, and will sell for much less. So, comps are very difficult.
Values are down 20 to 25 percent from 2007, and sellers have adjusted to reflect that pricing. There has not been an uptick in the market, but I feel it has stabilized. And our inventory is down from last year by about 6 percent.
But conventional wisdom suggests that vacation homes would be the first to be sacrificed in a tough economy.
We are different. This place is a lifestyle. People are not using these homes for two months but year-round. We’ve become much more of a year-round resort community. After Labor Day, a lot of East Hampton closes down. But more people are moving out of New York [City] and living here full-time. Cantor Fitzgerald has an office in Water Mill now. UBS has an office in Southampton, and so does Merrill Lynch. To a certain extent we have become a bedroom community, for those who need to go into the city three days a week.
The top Hamptons firms
6/1/2011 – The Real Deal
East End firms jockey for position amid stabilizing market
After edging past Corcoran in 2010, Prudential Douglas Elliman this year hung on to its title as the largest residential brokerage in the Hamptons.
Over the past 12 months, Elliman’s total head count fell by one — giving it 319 agents. But that was still enough for the firm to maintain its position as the top residential real estate player in the Hamptons, according to The Real Deal’s annual ranking of the biggest East End firms by number of agents. (Meanwhile, the firm is facing challenges in the city. See “The trials of Douglas Elliman.”)
Corcoran remained in the No. 2 spot with 312 agents, but closed the gap somewhat, with six more agents than it had at this time last year. (Corcoran executives said the company has more than that number of agents, because some do not appear on the firm’s website, which The Real Deal uses to tally head counts for all firms because it’s more up to date than state licensing filings.)
In fact, rankings of the top five brokerage houses remained unchanged from last year — evidence of what brokers say is an increasingly stable market following a roller-coaster-like four years.
Brown Harris Stevens came in at No. 3 with 146 brokers. The No. 4-ranked firm, Town & Country Real Estate, added 21 agents, most of whom joined the firm through its acquisition of the Westhampton brokerage Phillips Beach Realty in March, bringing its total to 119. Sotheby’s International Realty rounded out the top five with 88 brokers and, along with Corcoran, dominated The Real Deal’s ranking of the priciest listings.
Meanwhile, three-year-old Saunders & Associates also continued its forceful pursuit of greater market share. The firm added 15 new brokers and jumped up a spot to No. 6. As The Real Deal reported online last month, it recently opened a new office in Southampton, and will be adding 13 more brokers there.
As a result, Saunders overtook Century 21 Albertson Realty, which saw its agent ranks drop to 45 from 57 last year.
The remaining firms on the top-10 list included Devlin McNiff, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty and WHB Real Estate.
While Town & Country had more new agents than any other firm on the list, its CEO said the company is “not aggressively recruiting. It’s more a function of whether it is a good fit,” said Judi Desiderio, who founded the firm in 2007. “It is really all about ‘who,’ not ‘how many.'”
Most of the brokers interviewed by The Real Deal said despite a recent dip in median and average sales prices, the market has been relatively healthy.
“The market seems to be moving in the right direction,” said Aspasia Comnas, executive managing director of Brown Harris Stevens for the Hamptons and North Fork.
“Revenue [for BHS] is up over last year, which in turn was up over the year before that,” she continued. “It is not back to the levels of the boom years, but then, I did not expect it to be in the Hamptons.”
To be sure, the general health of the market in the Hamptons has improved since the dark days of 2008 and 2009.
The average sales price in 2010 was $1.7 million — still off the 2007 peak of $1.8 million, but up from $1.5 million in 2009, according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The number of sales in 2010 also rebounded to 1,632, up from 1,124 in 2009 and gaining ground on 1,917 in 2007, when the market was still roaring.
But the rankings come amidst a significant drop in sales prices and sales volume in the first quarter of 2011.
According to Elliman’s latest market report, the average sales price in the first quarter of 2011 — $1.2 million — represents a drop of 22 percent from the same period last year. And, perhaps more important, the number of sales was down almost 22 percent from the first quarter of 2010.
Anecdotally, many brokers said they were not seeing that kind of pain on the ground — so it might be a quarterly blip in the data, or it may be because those brokers made the biggest-brokerage list and are expanding their businesses.
“We are doing an awful lot of business and I can’t imagine that we are the only ones,” said Andrew Saunders, president of Saunders & Associates. “It doesn’t feel to me like we are down. It seems like there is more balance, and things are selling. This is not a declining market.”
But Town & Country’s Desiderio said there is still some noticeable slack in the marketplace. “After 29 years of monitoring our market in the Hamptons and on the North Fork, I can honestly say the great recession was the worst I’d ever experienced,” she said. “We are off the bottom, but it will be a long and arduous climb back up to the top.”
Meanwhile, eight-figure sales continue to dominate the headlines in the Hamptons.
Last month, a 55-acre waterfront North Haven estate known as Tyndal Point sold to real estate investor Jeffrey Greene for $36 million, making it the largest sale on the East End this year. The Corcoran Group’s Gary DePersia, who had the listing as a co-exclusive with Scott Strough of Strough Real Estate Associates, said it was the largest-ever residential sale north of the highway (Route 27).
And the market is still rife with eye-poppingly expensive listings, though some have seen major price chops and have lingered on the market. The priciest home currently for sale in the Hamptons market is Bridgehampton’s Three Ponds Farm, listed for $68 million with Susan Breitenbach of Corcoran. Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty is marketing a four-acre estate on Hayground Cove in Water Mill for $58.5 million. Other high-priced listings include an oceanfront Wainscott property listed with Sotheby’s Ed Petrie and Julie Wolfe for $55 million, and a Southampton estate listed with Corcoran’s Tim Davis for $49.5 million.
Properties priced in the low- to mid-seven figures are also moving at a nice clip, according to several brokers. But in this still-shaky market, brokers echo their Manhattan counterparts and say that realistic pricing is still the key to getting a house sold.
“In 2005 and 2006, it was less about pricing and more about supply. Things were selling close to their asking price,” Saunders said. “Today the buyers are so educated and people know when they come into a house what similar houses traded for over the same period, so things have to be priced properly — whether that is $500,000 or $35 million.”
In addition, because it takes more work to get a house sold, the competition among brokerages in the Hamptons remains fierce.
Corcoran representatives refuted The Real Deal’s ranking, claiming that they were, in fact, the largest brokerage firm in the Hamptons. The last time they held that title, according to The Real Deal data, was in 2009.
The firm’s regional senior vice president for the East End, Rick Hoffman, said Corcoran has a “Referral Director Program,” which includes less active but legally licensed brokers who are not listed on the website. If those agents are counted, Corcoran would have 361 agents, surpassing Elliman (whose operations in the Hamptons are led by regional manager Paul Brennan).
Hoffman also claimed that Corcoran was involved in more than half of the transactions of $10 million and above in the past year, and that his firm had more listings and open houses than any other company.
One thing is for sure: With more seven- and eight-figure deals closing, the Hamptons continues to stand out as a welcome anomaly to a national housing market that has struggled to rebound. “I’ve been impressed and relieved,” said Hoffman. “It came back quicker than what a lot people predicted.”
Rich Cribs: Prudential’s Dolly Lenz ups asking price
4/5/2011 – Newsday
Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate star Dolly Lenz has made a change on the listing for her Water Mill home — and it’s not a change in brokers. Yes, the seven-bedroom, 7.5-bath house is still a co-exclusive with Prudential’s East End rival, The Corcoran Group.
So what has changed? Lenz has increased the asking price for the 6,459-square-foot home to $5.9 million. Lenz, Prudential’s vice chair, had been asking $5.495 million. According to the re-listing with Tim Davis, who is the co-broker with Lenz, the house has just undergone “a major redecoration” with “fresh new interiors and a great floor plan.”
Best Properties on the Market: Homes with elevators
3/18/2011 -The Week
Bridgehampton, N.Y. This five-bedroom home near the Bridgehampton beaches is located on Kellis Pond, adjacent to a buildable one-acre lot that is also for sale. Three floors of the house can be reached by elevator, and the property’s pool and pool house are easily accessible from the finished walkout basement. $3,795,000. Tim Davis, Corcoran Group Real Estate, (631) 283-7300.
Go Further
3/17/2011 – New York Post
A stunning, two-story oceanfront mansion in East Hampton has just come on the market — for a whopping $38 million. The four-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot house, owned by a mystery banker who we hear is leaving the country, includes a pool and tennis court and sits on 3.5 acres on stately Further Lane. (Others on the street include Jerry Seinfeld and Helmut Lang.) Corcoran Group broker Tim Davis has the exclusive listing.
HAMPTONS Real Estate Showcase
3/7/2011 – New York Magazine
RECALLING THE GREAT GATSBY
Originally built at the turn of the last century by apprentices of William Merrit Chase and his American Impressionist School, and beautifully restored and expanded, this 8,000-square-foot six-bedroom house at 56 Ridge Road in Southampton is one of the few remaining grand shingled cottages in Shinnecock Hills. Bordering a 10-acre reserve, its three-plus acres include gardens designed by the renowned landscape architect Edwina Von Gal. There are two master suites and two grand-style living rooms and a fabulous kitchen that opens into a large room all done up in reclaimed chestnut. The dining room features a built-in banquette in front of a fireplace (there are six wood-burning fireplaces throughout the house) and a circular wine cellar with a tasting area that is accessed through a stone archway. Other standout features include a library, gym, covered terraces, a heated gunite swimming pool and loads of custom-built-ins. $8.450 million.
TIM DAVIS | 631-283-7300 X 211 | THE CORCORAN GROUP
Rich Cribs | Ward Bennett Home
3/5/2011 – Newsday
Another Meadow Lane oceanfront estate in Southampton has just hit the market, with a price tag of $24.5 million. Built in 1978, the 4,000-square-foot contemporary style home designed by noted American architect Ward Bennett, has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, three fireplaces, a game room, a library, a gunite pool and an all-weather tennis court. Tim Davis of The Corcoran Group is marketing the property.
Real estate firm honors brokers
2/21/2011 – Newsday
The Corcoran Group, a residential real estate firm, gave out its 2010 East End sales awards last week at Della Femina restaurant in East Hampton.
Susan Breitenbach won both the top sales agent by units and volume and the top exclusive listing agent. She was also named top producer of one of two Corcoran Bridgehampton offices, and a co-winner of the South Fork deal of the year award, which she shared with the team of Jack Pearson, from her office, and Cee Scott Brown of Corcoran’s Sag Harbor office.
Tim Davis (center in the photo above), won the top deal of the year award. Davis appears with Corcoran President and CEO Pamela Liebman, left, and Executive Vice President/ Director of Sales, Teresa Hall.
The Corcoran Group Celebrates East End Award Winners
2/18/2011 – Hamptons.com
The Corcoran Group, New York’s largest residential real estate firm, announced the recipients of its 2010 East End sales awards on February 15, 2011. Corcoran President and CEO, Pamela Liebman, and co-hosts, Corcoran Executive Vice President, Director of Sales, Teresa Hall and Regional Senior Vice President, East End, Rick Hoffman, were joined by more than 150 Corcoran agents and employees at the ceremony and celebratory cocktail reception held at Della Femina restaurant in East Hampton.
The Top 2010 Sales Agent award was presented to Susan Breitenbach who was also named Top Exclusive Listing Agent, Top Producer of 1936 Bridgehampton, one of two Corcoran Bridgehampton offices, and a co-winner of the South Fork Deal of the Year award which she shared with the team of Cee Scott Brown and Jack Pearson of Corcoran’s Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton 1936 offices, respectively.
Among other top performers honored were Tim Davis of the Southampton office, who won the Deal of the Year award, Cee Scott Brown and Jack Pearson who took home the Top Team award and Zachary Vichinsky of the Westhampton office, who was named Rookie of the Year.
The evening celebrated the “outstanding performance in salesmanship that Corcoran achieved in 2010,” according to Liebman, who congratulated all on another “fantastic year.” She continued, “Tonight we honor the winners and thank every person for their individual and collective contribution to the year’s exceptional achievement.”
Another Chop
2/18/2011 – Newsday
While the size of Tory Burch’s company continues to go up, the price of her Southampton home continues to go down. Just reduced to $14.75 million, the six-bedroom, 81/2-bath home is on 4.5 oceanfront acres, according to Propertyshark .com. The clothing and accessories designer’s property is co-listed with Eve Combemale of Sotheby’s International Realty and Tim Davis of Corcoran.
Rich Cribs: Lloyd Harbor’s Kenjockety in Contract, and More
2/15/2011 – Newsday
NEW TO MARKET. Another Meadow Lane oceanfront estate in Southampton has just hit the market with a price tag of $24.5 million. Built in 1978, the 4,000-square-foot contemporary style home designed by noted American architect Ward Bennett, has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, three fireplaces and even its own game room and library. The home is on two ocean front acres with views of Shinnecock Bay and comes with a gunite pool and an all-weather tennis court.
“The quintessential beach house has everything needed for carefree summer living,” says listing agent Tim Davis of The Corcoran Group.
Rich Cribs: Price Cut
2/11/2011 – Newsday
While the size of Tory Burch’s company continues to go only up, the price of her Southampton home continues to go down. Just reduced to $14.75 million, the six-bedroom, 8.5-bath home is on 4.5 oceanfront acres, according to Propertyshark.com. The clothing and accessories designer bought the property from her then-soon-to-be ex-husband in early 2009 for $22.5 million (they originally purchased it as a couple in 2005 for $14 million). Burch abandoned plans to flatten it and then put it on the market for $17.9 million; she lowered it to $16.75 million last June. She has subsequently purchased property less than five miles away. The property is co-listed with Eve Combemale of Sotheby’s International Realty and Tim Davis of The Corcoran Group.
Best Places to Live: The Hamptons
2/1/2011 – The New York Times
Three properties now on the market in Amagansett, Southampton and Bridgehampton illustrate the range of luxury options in that bucolic neck of the woods. Completed last summer, 50 Meeting House Lane, the first home in line for LEED certification in Amagansett, has been on the market for six months, and is now being offered at $6,295,000. Although “green,” the house is traditionally designed with six bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms by a renowned Park Avenue architect, and is within walking distance of the restaurants, shops and beaches nearby. “The solar panels, which are not visible from the front of the house, the geothermal heating and cooling system, and the entire orientation of the house and the 45-foot gunite pool and pool pavilion, create a wonderful environment for summer living and entertaining that maximizes the offered shine,” said Jeanette Schwargerl, listing agent for the property with Brown Harris Stevens. “The heating and cooling system is connected to the Internet, so anywhere you are in the world you can go onto a phone app and check on and adjust the temperature in the house. You can warm the house on your way out from the city, or check on it if you are away to make sure everything is okay.” Tim Davis, senior vice president and regional brokerage advisor for Corcoran East End, is marketing two unique Hampton’s properties. Beechwood, at 171 Great Plains Road in Southampton, is huge at more than 17,000 square feet but it doesn’t feel overwhelming, said Davis.
Beachwood, the four-and-a-half-acre estate at 171 Great Plains Road in Southampton, recreates the feel of an English country manor. Photo: Barney Sloan.
The $38 million, 4.5-acre estate, with nine bedrooms and eleven and-a-half bathrooms, was designed by architect Francis Fleetwood to recreate an English country manor house, and maximize the views of an alley of 200-year-old beech trees. “The goal was to make it look like it had been there for q long time, as opposed to something that looked out of place and brand new,” noted Davis. “This house is of considerable size, but you don’t have that out-of-place feel. When you see it, it is actually very understated. The rooms feel intimate, and never too big.”
At $9.5 million, 121 Pauls Lane in Bridgehampton is developer Christopher Peluso’s ninth project in the Hamptons. The l.4-acre, eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bathroom property, completed in November, features a 55-foot entertainment space along the back of the house that overlooks the pool, the tennis court and the horse farm that adjoins the property in the distance. “The market in the $7- to $l0-million range has been very active since the end of the year, and at the very high end, above $20 million, there have been more sales recently than we have had in the last couple of years,” added Davis. “Some new pricing has settled in, so the properties that are on the market reflect the new realities of the marketplace. It has taken a while, but now we have had enough sales that we can start to establish real comparable values since the collapse.”
Developer Christopher Peluso’s 121 Pauls Lane in Bridgehampton rests on 1.4 artfully manictured acres.
