Development arm of @properties expands partnership with Atlanta firm
According to an announcement from the two companies released this week, @properties Developer Services merged with Atlanta-based Ansley Developer Services.
The goal of the partnership, coming about a year after the two companies initially announced their intention to work together, is to increase both firms’ national and international presences.
“Bringing our two organizations together gives residential developers access to superior talent, technology and marketing for virtually any type of for-sale, new-construction or condo-conversion project in markets throughout the U.S., as well as luxury resort communities here and abroad,” Golden said in the press release.
The merger was not a foregone conclusion from the earlier partnership agreement because the developer services businesses were separately owned. The new entity will take the name of @properties’ new-construction sales and marketing division and be led by six partners: @properties co-founders and co-CEOs, Mike Golden and Thad Wong; Ansley Atlanta Real Estate founder and CEO, Bonneau Ansley; and former Ansley Developer Services principals Nick Cassini, Dimitri Cassini and David Tufts.
According to the press release, @properties has the biggest market share in Chicago for new-construction home sales. Currently @properties is in the process of marketing 1000M, which ranks as the largest new condo development in Chicago at 74 stories and 421 units. A few of the firm’s past development projects include the Waldorf Astoria Private Residences, 4 East Elm, The Ritz-Carlton Residences Chicago and Legacy at Millennium Park.
In the U.S., the Ansley side of the team has experience marketing new-construction projects in Georgia, as well as California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts and New York. Internationally, they’ve been active in Italy, Belize and Mexico.
Baird & Warner ramps up charitable efforts
Looking back on their philanthropic efforts in 2019, Baird & Warner announced that they’d managed to increase both the funds and volunteer hours donated through their Good Will Network by 22 percent over last year.
Overall, the organization raised $244,000 for Chicagoland nonprofits in 2019. One way in which individual agents were able to spur the brand to give more was through a month-long matching program launched last year. Not only will the firm match donations from staff and associates, it also pledged a gift of $50 per hour volunteered, up to 10 hours.
“We believe making a positive difference in the lives of people is an important part of being good stewards,” Jennifer Alter Warden, chief operating officer of Baird & Warner, said in a press release. “With our recent Month of Matching, we ended 2019 on a high note by making it even easier for our agents to help make the neighborhoods where they live and work a better place by giving them the flexibility of choosing to donate funds or volunteer at their favorite charity.”
In 2019, Baird & Warner organized several large-scale charitable events, including bringing 70 volunteers out to remove weeds and spread mulch at Chicago’s Douglas Park with the Trust for Public Land and distributing awards of $24,000 each to five nonprofits recognized for innovative programs to provide services to people experiencing homelessness across the Chicago area.
The Good Will Network has been around since 2002 and has facilitated nearly $3 million in donations to Chicagoland nonprofits that focus on housing-related causes. Since Baird & Warner began offering its volunteer time-off program to employees in 2015, the firm has logged around 2,000 volunteer time-off hours.