Recently, REBNY has started becoming even more actively involved in the real estate landscapes of the outer boroughs.
With Brooklyn seeing more and more growth, our focus has been to not only help nurture that expansion, but to also find new and exciting ways for our members to learn about and be part of it.
In October 2015, REBNY released its inaugural Brooklyn Retail Report after recognizing the borough’s tremendous growth as well as the real estate industry’s increasing interest in its retail scene. We plan to release this report biannually going forward, with the next report slated for release in the First Quarter of 2016.
Last December, REBNY partnered with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and his Renewable and Sustainability Energy Taskforce (ReSET).
ReSET encourages building owners to make their buildings more energy efficient, and to aid in these efforts, REBNY members are being encouraged to include riders with their commercial and industrial leases informing tenants of various programs they can use to cut costs.
These riders also include recommended rebate programs related to green energy equipment and other environmentally-conscious upgrades.
These strategies have already proven to be very effective, with National Grid reporting that 20,000 of their customers have received rebates since 2008 that have saved enough dekatherms to heat more than 107,000 homes with natural gas for one year.
2015 also saw the creation of REBNY’s newest committee, the Brooklyn Commercial Committee, in addition to the Brooklyn Residential Committee the previous year. These two committees have been very successful in introducing REBNY’s Brooklyn-based members not only to each other, but also to key leaders in Brooklyn’s residential, commercial, industrial, and retail scenes.
In terms of overall membership, I am pleased to announce that Fillmore Real Estate, Brooklyn’s largest privately owned and operated residential and commercial real estate firms, has recently become a member of REBNY. This occasion is just one of the many exciting new ways REBNY is becoming even more involved in Brooklyn’s real estate landscape.
We at REBNY are honored to be a part of the next chapter in Fillmore’s rich history. Founded in 1966, Fillmore is now in its 50th year, and continues to provide Brooklyn’s neighborhoods with unparalleled excellence, professionalism, and commitment.
Despite its impressive size – 20 offices and over 300 highly skilled agents – Fillmore prides itself on its prioritization of each of their individual clients, and treats them each with a level of attention and courtesy normally found in much smaller companies.
In terms of member services, the RLS has also been working to find new ways to connect REBNY’s brokerage community with not only the outer boroughs, but with the real estate market on a national scale.
The RLS’s latest joint venture is its recent agreement with ListHub, the largest provider of performance marketing metrics and listing syndication services in the country.
Through this agreement, we will be providing the RLS’s over 13,000 residential participants with new promotional listings and options for syndication through ListHub’s expansive network of over 85 national, regional, and affiliate publisher websites.
Through this integration, participants will also gain access to a global group of international publisher websites, as well as be able to distribute their listings from the RLS directly to the ListHub Global Network.
2016 is certainly off to an exciting start, and I look forward to welcoming Fillmore Real Estate into REBNY’s membership community at our reception in Coney Island on February 11th. The year has only just begun, and I’m sure REBNY will continue to grow in Brooklyn and beyond throughout 2016.
In other REBNY news:
February 9th is REBNY’s next Breakfast Club seminar. From 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., join your fellow REBNY members at this free seminar in our Mendik Education Room, where our top industry leaders will be imparting hints and tips to improve your business. For more information, contact Yesenia Dhanraj at YDhanraj@rebny.com, or check the Events section of www.rebny.com.
Submissions for REBNY’s Sales Brokers Deal of the Year Awards are due on February 10th by 5 p.m. To make a submission, contact Desiree Jones at DJones@rebny.com.
REBNY’s next Residential Rental Clinic seminar is on February 19th from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Mendik Education Center. Presented by Daniel Marrello of Town Fifth Avenue LLC and Gary Kiyan of Perfect RE Solutions Inc., join fellow REBNY members in this exciting seminar that will teach you more about how to expand and improve your residential real estate business. For more information, contact Yesenia Dhanraj at YDhanraj@rebny.com.
Request for Housing for Veterans in Need: New York City is seeking housing for homeless veterans, with the greatest need being for studios and one-bedroom apartments.
The City has committed to ending veteran homelessness and has worked to ensure that all veterans have a rental subsidy. There are also landlord and broker incentives available for those who place veterans in housing.
Learn more about the program, or if you have an apartment you’d like to make available, please visit http://www1.nyc.gov/site/dhs/outreach/veterans.page.
For information on how to make a donation, visit www.rebny.com or contact Johann Hamilton at 212-616-5251.
