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Atco founder moves to Halstead

By Lauren Elkies

The founder of Manhattan boutique brokerage Atco Residential Group has become the director of sales for the East Side office of Halstead Property.

Starting today, John Wollberg is managing 110-plus agents at Halstead's East Side office at 1356 Third Avenue at 77th Street, focusing on recruitment and increasing the East Side's market share, he said. He is working directly with the company's president, Diane Ramirez.

"John is terrific and will be a great asset to this office," said Rena Goldstein, an associate broker in Halstead's East Side office. "I know him from REBNY.  He has both a broad range and a depth of experience that will be very helpful to brokers here. We are lucky to have him."

By mid-afternoon, Wollberg said he had already helped an agent complete a board package and received commission checks for closed deals.

With more than 20 years in the business, Wollberg was the executive vice president and managing director of the 14-agent Atco, which he founded in 1997. He has been working as a broker and manager, but will only operate as a manager in his new post.

He said he was attracted to Halstead for several reasons, including its ability to handle deals of all price ranges.

Wollberg said moving from Atco to Halstead is not a big leap.

"It's literally the same footprint. We're both a broker-centric company," he said. "Obviously the main reason I came is Diane." Wollberg commended Ramirez for the 2006 re-branding of Halstead.

Wollberg and Ramirez were instrumental in the development of the Real Estate Board of New York's public Web portal, ResidentialNYC.com.

Wollberg replaces Charles Urstadt, who moved to Miami after about a year in the post.

Post Date: 6/9/2008

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