High-end happenings
Luxury real estate firm moves into Texas with stars of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing
Three reality TV stars are coming to Texas as part of Douglas Elliman Real Estate’s expansion in the Lone Star State.
Douglas Elliman Real Estate, which already handles deals for high-end homes and condos in Houston, said April 15 that it has opened offices in Austin and Dallas. Douglas Elliman says Fredrik Eklund, John Gomes, and Julia Spillman of Bravo TV’s Million Dollar Listing — which airs New York City and Los Angeles editions — will work from the firm’s Houston, Austin, and Dallas offices. The trio most recently were based at the firm’s New York City location.
No word on where in Texas the Million Dollar Listing stars are setting down roots.
“I am proud to be entering Texas with the support of Douglas Elliman,” Eklund, co-founder of The Eklund | Gomes Team, says in a company news release. “Texas is the most exciting market in the country right now, with buyers from California, New York, and Florida relocating here. We are looking forward to making real estate history with our new colleagues.”
Aside from Texas and New York, The Eklund | Gomes Team maintains a presence in California, Florida, and New Jersey.
New York City-based Douglas Elliman’s new offices in Austin and Dallas join the Houston office, which opened in 2019.
“Austin’s luxury market is booming,” Jacob Sudhoff, CEO of Douglas Elliman’s Houston-based Texas division, says in the news release. “As the premier luxury brokerage and No. 1 seller of new development in the country, entering into the Austin market was a natural fit.”
Matthew Ditlow, formerly of DEN Property Group, leads the firm’s Austin office, at 500 W. Second St. The office is hiring agents in Austin, where it already has more than $1.3 billion in new condo projects in the pipeline.
Douglas Elliman also is adding agents in Dallas. There, the firm has about $1.1 billion in new condo projects in the pipeline.
“Dallas is the largest luxury real estate market in the state of Texas,” Sudhoff says. “As the premier luxury brokerage that sells the most expensive homes in the U.S., we have an amazing opportunity not to just raise the bar, but also do something different. Our technology advances, combined with our national footprint and international reach, [are] going to bring [an] unprecedented platform to Dallas like no other firm.”
Michael Reddell heads the firm’s new Dallas office, at 4514 Travis St. in Highland Park.
Later this year, Douglas Elliman plans to open a retail store at the Shops at Arrive in Houston’s River Oaks neighborhood that it says will be similar to an Apple store’s Genius Bar and a Starbucks coffeehouse.
Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman is the second largest independent residential real estate brokerage in the U.S. as measured by sales volume. Douglas Elliman, a subsidiary of Miami-based Vector Group Ltd., posted revenue of $774 million in 2020 on sales of $29.1 billion.
