Halstead Property

Diane M. Ramirez
President
dramirez@halstead.com
(212) 381-3203

William S. Ross
Director of Development Marketing
wross@halstead.com
(212) 613-2001

At Home With Halstead Property LLC

‘We don’t want to just be in the neighborhood, we want to be part of the neighborhood  

As they continue to grow by leaps and bounds, Halstead Property LLC has never forgotten who has helped them become one of the city’s premier residential real estate brokerage firms – the people.

That’s what sold Bill Ross of William S. Ross realty, who joined with Halstead nearly two-and-a-half years ago as the company expanded its coverage from Central Park West to Prospect Park West, not to mention lesser-known streets in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights and Greenpoint.

Already a successful real estate company in its own right, Ross had been approached by several Manhattan-based firms who wanted to take part in Brooklyn’s building boom to join forces with him.

Halstead’s mission was too similar to his own to pass up, he said.

“Their philosophy was very much like my own,” he said. “We’re not here to make a dollar. We’re here to listen to people, to hear about their lifestyles, their hopes and dreams for the future and then taking that information and trying to find the right apartment or right house for them.”

“Three years after a sale, we want to run into our client in the street and hear about how much they love living where they are,” Ross said. “We want to hear about how they love the schools and the restaurants and how they love the home they’re living in – the home we helped provide them.”

Forget the silver spoon — William Ross had a key to a Brooklyn brownstone sticking out of his mouth when he was born.

Embracing the family business, Ross helped sell his first renovated brownstone when he was just 12 years old.

“And I never got a fee for it,” he joked.

It was serendipity that William S. Ross Realty and Halstead Property LLC were looking to expand at the same time.

With Ross at their side, Halstead has become a driving force in the borough’s real estate market.

To date, Halstead has 29 brokers in Brooklyn from 21 different neighborhoods spanning the borough.

“If we get a call from someone who wants to relocate to Brooklyn, we have an expert in the neighborhood that they want to focus on,” Ross said.

At Halstead, nothing is too big or too small.

For every brownstone or apartment they bring to a buyer, there is a larger residential home or condo complex with their name on it.

Currently, Halstead is working with Toll Brothers, the nation’s premier builder of luxury homes, on two condominium projects in Williamsburg.

Both the North 8 and Northside Piers projects, which are currently being built, offer deluxe condominiums on Brooklyn’s revitalized waterfront with sweeping views of the river and the Manhattan skyline.

“We’re very proud of our projects with Toll Brothers,” said Halstead President Diane Ramirez. “They normally do everything internally and this is the first time they are working with a New York-based company.”

“They did their research and what they realized was that they needed a community expert, not an expert on numbers.”

“They needed someone who understands living in the city, as well as the vertical living style,” she said. “The Toll Brothers do mostly single-family homes and that doesn’t necessarily work in an urban environment.”

The Toll Brothers joined forces with Halstead because of the company’s established reputation as a neighborhood focused real estate company.

“We don’t want to just be in a neighborhood, we want to be part of a neighborhood,” she said. “We don’t just want to sell units, we want to be good neighbors.”

Halstead Property has offices in Brooklyn Heights (150 Montague Street; (718) 613-2001) and one in Cobble Hill (162 Court Street; (718) 613-2020). Those wishing to know more about available properties can contact either office or log onto Halstead Property's website at www.halstead.com. 

Thursday, February 08, 2007