Wharton, a 30-year New York industry veteran, tells GlobeSt.com he has no new hiring plans over the next several months, but that the group may be expanding further down the road. "We're always looking to find new ways to expand," says Wharton. "However, my goal right now is to maintain our position as leaders within the industry." He steps into fold amidst the most profitable period in Insignia Douglas Elliman's 91-year history, as the group has conducted $1.5 billion in transactions since January.
In addition to Wharton's hiring, Elliman president Paul F. Purcell, and executive managing director Kathy Mayer Braddock today revealed plans to step down after the end of this year and form a new real estate services venture. Insignia claims that it will be a financial backer in the venture, pledging "support and endorsement" of the new business.
Wharton's contemporaries hint that the group may be planning expansions in the midst of such a profitable year. Elliman chairman Alan J. Rogers, who steps down from his interim CEO post as of today, says Wharton's hiring will be impactful for Insignia "especially in the area of new business development."
"Given [Wharton's] variety of experiences with Insignia over the years," says Insignia/ESG chairman and CEO Andrew L. Farkas, "I feel certain he will create substantial new synergies between our commercial and residential brokerage businesses."
Previously, Wharton served as managing director of the World Trade Center Re-Development Program for Silverstein Properties, which holds the 99-year lease on that site. Prior to joining Silverstein Properties in 2000, Wharton was a senior executive of Tishman-Speyer Properties for 18 years. From 1996 to 2000, he led Tishman-Speyer's redevelopment and management of Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building.
Prior to 1996, he was responsible for marketing and leasing 10 million sf of office space for Tishman-Speyer in the US and Germany. Wharton is a graduate of Brown University and New York University School of Law.
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