Adam Modlin solely offers in headline numbers. However don’t anticipate to see him speaking about them within the information.
In 2019, he offered financier Philip Falcone’s home on East 67th Road for almost $80 million, the priciest townhouse ever offered in New York Metropolis. Two years later, he brokered a $105 million deal for a Southampton property, marking the costliest single-parcel sale in Hamptons historical past. He later broke that document once more, when he offered former Warner Brothers and Yahoo CEO Terry Semel’s Amagansett property to developer Len Blavatnik for $115 million.
His private monitor document is barely outdone by his agency, the Modlin Group, which claims the highest average deal size amongst Manhattan brokerages, in response to knowledge analyzed by The Actual Deal. In TRD’s most recent ranking, the agency claimed greater than $213 million throughout simply 26 offers, for a median of $8.2 million.
Via three many years within the enterprise, Modlin has usually skipped interviews with the press, together with for this story. His offers make information, however he hardly ever, if ever, feedback.
“Typically I find out about a deal that he’s labored on from studying about it in The Actual Deal,” stated Jason Katz, who’s been an agent with the Modlin Group for greater than a decade. “That’s how non-public the workplace is. I don’t even know what Adam’s engaged on.”
Modlin is a singular character, however an impartial brokerage is more and more uncommon in New York. Consolidation has pushed a lot of the luxurious scene beneath the identical umbrella because the {industry} seems locked in a race for itemizing stock.
However even in a brand new ecosystem the place measurement equals dominance, Modlin’s agency is most probably to climate the storm.
“He has entry to listings by means of his relationships, and he has a whole lot of stock that he brings in,” stated Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman. She added that his boutique operation is a bonus in a consolidation–heavy panorama, the place mid-size corporations face existential threats. “His secret sauce is that he can say he’s his personal man together with his personal store.”
And in contrast to Liebman and the opposite brokerage heads whose jobs contain them going to bat over industry-wide points, Modlin has stayed away from the noise.
“He’s impervious to it,” stated R New York’s Stefani Berkin. “There’s so much happening that I believe is hurting us as an {industry}. To me, the best way Adam is, helps us.”
Building a brokerage in model
Modlin has a repute for curation, in enterprise and in how he presents himself. He’s keen on pocket squares from the London-based Anderson & Sheppard and has an affinity for Patek Philippe watches, a ardour he shares with Liebman. On a latest journey to Miami, the 2 went buying at its Design District outpost.
Modlin started his skilled life at Bergdorf Goodman, first as a summer time job whereas he was finding out at Baruch Faculty after which as a full-time stylist. He started to construct relationships with a roster of A-listers, together with Yankees royalty Alex Rodriguez. By 1999, after a stint working with Jules and Eddie Trump, connecting his New York purchasers to their South Florida developments, he and his brother, Avery, based the Modlin Group.
The duo rapidly cemented their place among the many high producers in Manhattan, thanks partially to his networking expertise. Avery told TRD in 2010 that again when Modlin nonetheless labored for Bergdorf, his brother walked over to a Rolls-Royce convertible at a purple gentle and handed the driving force his card, saying, “Anybody who can recognize such a wonderful car will surely recognize what I do.”
“You ask for Adam, you get Adam. That’s uncommon on this {industry}.”
Some say Modlin’s sustained momentum comes from his ties to the folks making selections for the world’s richest. He doesn’t simply search out the large names, however he spends his time cultivating relationships with attorneys, cash managers and different advisors.
Over time, that has allowed Modlin to develop his shopper record to be much more star-studded, together with Britney Spears, Usher, Will Smith, Madonna and Amy Schumer. Modlin has additionally turn out to be the go-to dealer for a lot of titans of {industry}, these whose names are hidden each behind his tight lips and layers of shell corporations. Hints of their standing are revealed solely by means of the sky-high sums they shell out for coveted properties.
Modlin’s foothold in Manhattan has additionally been buoyed by a luxurious market driving the quickly rising wealth of the highest .01 p.c. That rise is anticipated to proceed, particularly as main artificial-intelligence corporations transfer towards IPOs, minting new hundred-millionaires, a lot of whom will seemingly be establishing houses in New York Metropolis.
“It turns into like a snowball rolling down a mountain,” stated Serhant’s Ravi Kantha. “You begin getting the incoming calls since you’re the particular person for this asset class or this worth level or this neighborhood. That’s how he’s maintained. He by no means took his foot off the gasoline.”
Unshakable Adam Modlin
Those that work intently with Modlin say that his guarded picture is what retains folks coming again to the agency.
“We delight ourselves on not having our faces in entrance of the digital camera each time we present or promote a property,” stated Andrew Nierenberg, a Modlin Group agent who described himself as Modlin’s “right-hand man” and the pinnacle of the corporate’s inventive division.
Although Modlin doesn’t run his enterprise on his personal, he nonetheless maintains a touchpoint on its operations. Brokers who’ve labored on eight- and nine-figure offers with Modlin say his brokers deal with showings and the opposite points of the early part of a sale, however as soon as it comes time for the negotiation, it’s Adam within the driver’s seat.
“You ask for Adam, you get Adam,” stated Berkin. “That’s uncommon on this {industry}.”
Wanting again on her two years working at Modlin’s agency, Berkin stated what she discovered most from him was silence.
“He’s not an overtalker, which I believe lots of people on this enterprise are,” she stated. “Every little thing that comes out of his mouth is significant.”
Adam Modlin has constructed his repute in Manhattan’s luxurious actual property market by means of relationships with a number of the greatest names
in leisure, together with these purchasers.
By a number of accounts, Modlin is unflappable.
“I’m certain everybody will get pressured, however I’ve by no means seen him insanely wired,” stated Compass’ Carl Gambino, who ran the New York aspect of his enterprise by means of the Modlin Group earlier than increasing his group to the town with Compass.
The 2 are nonetheless pals. Additionally they sometimes go head-to-head on listings, a frightening prospect for Gambino when the property is on the Higher East Aspect, the place Modlin spent his childhood, raised his daughters and nonetheless lives together with his spouse.
“He is aware of each constructing, each block,” Gambino stated, recalling a latest stroll with Modlin down Madison Avenue. “We will’t stroll for 5 blocks with out operating into somebody he is aware of.”
Gambino stated when he lately misplaced out on itemizing a $25 million house on the Higher East Aspect, the purchasers stated it was as a result of they had been going with a dealer who they felt was a real knowledgeable on the neighborhood.
“I used to be like, ‘You imply Adam?’” he requested. The shopper stated sure. “I texted him, and I used to be like, ‘I knew it was you.’”
However Modlin’s repute as a congenial boss doesn’t imply he’s not a competitor. Some within the {industry}, who declined to be quoted by identify for this story, say he received’t hesitate to swoop in when a high-priced itemizing appears to be in play, resembling when an unique settlement is heading towards expiration.
However Liebman waved the criticism of Modlin off as “jealousy.”
“Not everybody loves everybody,” she stated. “If I’ve ever had a difficulty with him, he’s dealt with it instantly.”
Signs of progress
Whereas his brokers do have their very own purchasers and listings, usually under the $5 million threshold, most if not the entire agency’s ultra-luxury dealmaking runs by means of Modlin himself.
That the agency is so small can typically really feel like a problem to brokers who work with Modlin.
“It’s not simple going up towards these family names,” Nierenberg stated. “You’re the single-door financial institution that the typical particular person hasn’t heard of, after which all of the sudden JPMorgan Chase comes alongside.”
However staying small nonetheless comes with its benefits. Leslie Garfield’s Matthew Lesser stated he considers his agency and the Modlin Group as seemingly the one two boutique corporations within the metropolis that “haven’t succumbed to a conglomerate,” and whereas which will include its challenges, “the fact is we’re significantly better positioned to maneuver with the market.”
However even whereas staying lean, Modlin has his eyes on progress. In 2023, Modlin quietly expanded, opening an outpost in Bridgehampton and tapping former Compass agent Christopher Covert to move the workplace.
Although Modlin nonetheless tackles his personal offers on the South Fork, it’s Covert’s enterprise that takes middle stage. And within the years since its opening, the group has grown to the same construction to the town, with eight brokers and an operations director.
“For us, we’ll by no means lose the boutique vibe. We’re not seeking to fill seats or open extra places of work,” Covert stated. Progress is simply “constructing a bigger shopper base.”
Earlier this yr, Modlin additionally inked a partnership with Knight Frank, cementing a referral relationship between his agency and the London-based actual property firm. In doing so, Modlin secured a spot on the worldwide stage, touchdown entry to Knight Frank’s 700 places of work throughout Europe, the Center East Asia and the Americas for his purchasers, whereas on the similar time serving purchasers of Knight Frank buying within the metropolis and out East.
Although it seems that Modlin plans to remain the course as an impartial model, it isn’t for others’ lack of attempting.
“I hope sooner or later we may purchase his firm,” Liebman stated. However when requested if she thinks he would ever take her up on the provide, she wasn’t so certain. “One can solely hope.”
