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Added: December 11, 2006, 7:05 pm	Share    Print    Email

Okay, I promised news - exclusive to this column - from Harold Shepherd Real Estate, 54 Main Street, East Hampton Village.

Elie Tahari expands and joins Gucci and Coach.

The deal of the month:

Scheduled to close December 11th the big deal was made by Barbara Weinman, managing broker of Harold Shepherd's, who sold the prime 54 Main Street building to Elie Tahari, high end women's fashion designer to whom Ms. Weinman had sold 48 Main Street several years ago. But that's not all. Part of the 54 Main Street deal was also acquiring 69 Circle, a contiguous space behind it housing East End Books who still has some time to go on its lease.

The purchase price was over $7 million for the two buildings. Designer Tahari now owns, according to Ms. Weinman, 54, 48 (his shop), and 46 Main Street (leased to Gucci), in addition to 69 the Circle. And broker Ms. Weinman? What a success story, starting at Harold Shepherd's as the front desk receptionist.

Scooping up the handsome commission - no, we didn't ask! - Barbara is taking a six week rest, then moving on teaming with Jan Robinson (Hampton Homes) and going to, yes, Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate's East Hampton office (right across the street!) because she "liked working over the years with Tom MacNiven" the new broker/manager for Prudential's two East Hampton offices -- the original on Railroad Avenue and the one on Main Street.

Honestly, you can't tell the players without a score card. And a map!

So, one more independent brokerage disappears profitably from the East End, though, not gobbled up corporately. Remaining out east as independently owned firms we still have: Town and Country right next door to 54 Main (and in Mattituck and Westhampton Beach) with principal broker Judi Desiderio; East Hampton's Devlin-McNiff with principal broker Stuart Epstein; Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor's Strough Real Estate, principal broker Scott Strough; Hamptons Realty Group, offices in Amagansett, East Hampton, Water Mill, Sag Harbor, with principal brokers Stan Esposito; Joe Sawicki and Htun Han; Lanzetta and Associates Realty in East Quogue, Donna Lanzetta principal broker.

As mentioned above, Tom MacNiven is now managing Prudential Douglas Elliman (filling the vacancy left by Nick Pizzo who is concentrating on selling). Moreover, Jan Jaeger is the new Managing Director for two of the Corcoran Group's East Hampton offices stepping in for Gordon Hoppe who moved on to more time in Manhattan, but is still associated with the Corcoran Group. (Peter Hallock, one time Schneider principal, by the way, manages Corcoran's other East Hampton office, formerly Allan Schneider's, naturally.)

What was that about a score card?

We'll have more on Ms. Jaeger in the future when we talk about manager/broker relationships. Hers is a nice success story coming from the New York corporate world to year round living in her Sag Harbor summer home only six years ago. Ms. Jaeger then joined Allan M Schneider's real estate firm; it was later acquired by Corcoran. Manager Jaeger is a senior vice president at Corcoran, as well.

The view of the month:

I learned about the Corcoran change lunching with the amazing Melanie Ross, another woman, this one a local product, who made good - building up, expanding and finally selling Cook/Pony Farm Real Estate to the Corcoran Group - and who still lives in their very first home on Old Stone Highway with husband Mike, house painter par excellence.

Property listed with Corcoran Group.

Melanie took us to one of the most scenic pieces of real estate in East Hampton. And it still looks like old East Hampton, if Montauk doesn't mind being called East Hampton. (They always used to!) We were dining at Inlet Seafood Restaurant at the end of East Lake Drive. The restaurant and sea food market was launched last 4th of July weekend by six Montauk fishermen, we were told by Montauk native Daniel Grimm as we gazed out at the channel connecting Lake Montauk to Gardiner's Bay, and at Gosman's directly across Gardiner's Bay/Long Island Sound or whatever you want to call the body of water with its unmistaken rugged Montauk shoreline. It is a spectacle not to be missed.

Women of the month:

By the way, Melanie Ross, like Barbara Weinman, started out as the receptionist for the old Cook office that became Cook Pony Farm that...well you know what happened next.

Don't you love real estate for the very reason that young or old, female or male, rich or poor - one can make it, become economically self-sufficient without inheriting it from family or hitting the lottery? Lots of sweat, but for the women - add Dottie Herman, Norma Reynolds, Tina Fredericks, Margot Horne and the late Boots Lamb to the group and others - East End real estate is and has been both a very strange business and an unparalleled way of crashing through any glass ceilings that might exist.

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Lona Rubenstein is an accomplished author residing in East Hampton. Her new book, "Getting Back in the Game: Finding the Fountain of Youth in Cyberspace" can be found at local booksellers and online at www.gettingbackinthegame.com. For more real estate news and views contact Lona at lonafirst@aol.com.