Doug Dorsey addresses attendees at last week’s opening. Photos by Jonathan Spiers.
The Richmond real estate scene has added an umlaut.
Engel & Volkers North America – or Engel & Völkers, as it’s spelled with the German punctuation mark – officially opened its first Richmond brokerage last week in the home of its local franchise, the former Select Properties of Virginia.
Now operating as Engel & Volkers Richmond, the office in the Libbie and Grove area – at 5610 Grove Ave. – opened its doors last Thursday with a ribbon-cutting and open house that attracted dozens of attendees, including Engel & Volkers North America CEO Anthony Hitt.
Hitt joined Select Properties’ Doug Dorsey, who will continue to lead the office of about 25 agents, in celebrating the brand’s entry into Richmond, where it joins other luxury brands operating locally, including Berkshire Hathaway, Christie’s International Real Estate and Sotheby’s International Realty.
Select Properties had previously been an affiliate for Christie’s but parted ways with the luxury brand last year, leaving Long & Foster Real Estate as the brand’s exclusive Richmond affiliate. That opened up the office to accept overtures from Engel & Volkers, which Hitt said had been eyeing the Richmond market for some time.
The office at 5610 Grove Ave.
“We look for a market with a national and international connection, a high-profile market and exceptional properties,” Hitt said, adding that Richmond and Dorsey’s team provided the right fit.
“We’re not about being the biggest. We’re about being the best. And Doug and his team are very representative of that,” he said.
The brand made a strong first impression in recent weeks with the sale of Windemere, a 10,000-square-foot Tudor-style home off Cary Street Road that sold for nearly $4 million before its most recent listing. Engel & Volkers Richmond agent Richard Buckingham had the listing.
The Richmond office is the 87th North American location for the Germany-based luxury real estate brand, which is aiming to make it 100 by year’s end, Hitt said. Headquartered in New York, the brand entered the U.S. market about 10 years ago and has been pushing in recent years to increase its presence there, as well as in Canada and Mexico. It previously had a presence in Virginia with shops in Loudoun County and Tysons Corner.
“We’re doing it one market at a time,” Hitt said.
Like other Engel & Volkers shops, the Grove Avenue office now features a flat-screen TV displaying the brand’s local, national and international listings. It also carries the brand’s seasonal real estate magazine.
The real estate firm is one of several to set up shop in the Libbie and Grove corridor. Long & Foster affiliate Virginia Properties is nearby, and Coldwell Banker Avenues, which rebranded earlier this year, is located around the corner on Libbie Avenue.
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to clarify that Select Properties parted ways with Christie’s International Real Estate, not the other way around as the original version conveyed.
Doug Dorsey addresses attendees at last week’s opening. Photos by Jonathan Spiers.
The Richmond real estate scene has added an umlaut.
Engel & Volkers North America – or Engel & Völkers, as it’s spelled with the German punctuation mark – officially opened its first Richmond brokerage last week in the home of its local franchise, the former Select Properties of Virginia.
Now operating as Engel & Volkers Richmond, the office in the Libbie and Grove area – at 5610 Grove Ave. – opened its doors last Thursday with a ribbon-cutting and open house that attracted dozens of attendees, including Engel & Volkers North America CEO Anthony Hitt.
Hitt joined Select Properties’ Doug Dorsey, who will continue to lead the office of about 25 agents, in celebrating the brand’s entry into Richmond, where it joins other luxury brands operating locally, including Berkshire Hathaway, Christie’s International Real Estate and Sotheby’s International Realty.
Select Properties had previously been an affiliate for Christie’s but parted ways with the luxury brand last year, leaving Long & Foster Real Estate as the brand’s exclusive Richmond affiliate. That opened up the office to accept overtures from Engel & Volkers, which Hitt said had been eyeing the Richmond market for some time.
The office at 5610 Grove Ave.
“We look for a market with a national and international connection, a high-profile market and exceptional properties,” Hitt said, adding that Richmond and Dorsey’s team provided the right fit.
“We’re not about being the biggest. We’re about being the best. And Doug and his team are very representative of that,” he said.
The brand made a strong first impression in recent weeks with the sale of Windemere, a 10,000-square-foot Tudor-style home off Cary Street Road that sold for nearly $4 million before its most recent listing. Engel & Volkers Richmond agent Richard Buckingham had the listing.
The Richmond office is the 87th North American location for the Germany-based luxury real estate brand, which is aiming to make it 100 by year’s end, Hitt said. Headquartered in New York, the brand entered the U.S. market about 10 years ago and has been pushing in recent years to increase its presence there, as well as in Canada and Mexico. It previously had a presence in Virginia with shops in Loudoun County and Tysons Corner.
“We’re doing it one market at a time,” Hitt said.
Like other Engel & Volkers shops, the Grove Avenue office now features a flat-screen TV displaying the brand’s local, national and international listings. It also carries the brand’s seasonal real estate magazine.
The real estate firm is one of several to set up shop in the Libbie and Grove corridor. Long & Foster affiliate Virginia Properties is nearby, and Coldwell Banker Avenues, which rebranded earlier this year, is located around the corner on Libbie Avenue.
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to clarify that Select Properties parted ways with Christie’s International Real Estate, not the other way around as the original version conveyed.