party watch
Houston's real estate stars roll with celebs at big-money awards show
What: “The Ellies”
Where:Mohegan Sun
The scoop: Recently, Douglas Elliman Texas head honchos and 25 of their powerhouse Houston agents jetted to Connecticut’s resort and casino Mohegan Sun to attend Douglas Elliman’s powerhouse annual awards show “The Ellies,” which celebrate world-class agents from around the nation.
Douglas Elliman, the second largest independent residential real estate brokerage in the United States by sales volume, is known for their bold-faced celebrity agents such as those featured in Bravo’s series Million Dollar Listings. Part of the celeb crowd in attendance hobnobbing with the Houstonians included Kelly Killoren Bensimon of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City, and The Holly Parker Team at Douglas Elliman New York City.
It was a day of big numbers for the firm: Some 7,000 agents closed nearly 45,000 sales and rental deals totaling $28.7 billion across the country last year. Of that, 150 teams and individuals — roughly 2 percent of the firm — were honored for tallying gross commission income of $1 million or more.
The fear of coronavirus clearly didn’t hinder nearly 1,200 agents who made the trip from Elliman’s eight markets across the U.S. At the close of the nights, revelers retreated to a bar at the base of the hotel’s interior waterfall for a memorable nightcap.
Who:Jacob Sudhoff, CEO Douglas Elliman Texas; Catherine Lee, COO and in-house counsel, Douglas Elliman Texas; Mark Menendez, president of Texas brokerage, Douglas Elliman Texas; Gigi Huang; Rosie Meyers; Jamie Barrere; Susan Branda Martin; Brad Hermes; Cindy Caryl; Richard Ray; Kathryn Hamilton; Adriana Banks; Marc Ziegler; Andrew McCain; David Gugino; Leigh Stubbs; Benjamin Dougharty; Christine Lombardi; and Harris Benson.