Todd Lee is busier than ever as the head broker of the new Phoenix office for Serhant, the luxury residential firm behind the popular "Owning Manhattan" show on Netflix.
Lee heads day-to-day operations as the designated broker for the office that opened in May, marking the brokerage's first outpost in the Western U.S. as the company takes its services nationwide.
The brokerage brought Lee to the firm in January from Epique Realty. Before then, Lee spent 10 years at Berkshire Hathaway, first working as an agent and then managing broker of the firm's Camelback office. His plate has been full since the move, growing the team and its client list all while hosting launch parties and networking events.
The Arizona office launched with nearly 60 agents who had collectively brought about in $750 million in sales volume from the past 12 months, Lee said. It has since expanded to 78 agents.
"I knew we were primed to have a good splash, but it's gone even better than what we had expected," Lee said. "We've attracted an all-star team of agents."
The firm wants to continue to bring on high performers that mesh with the company's culture, though Lee said Serhant is trying to maintain its reputation as a "boutique" brokerage. That growth could translate to the small screen, with Arizona's high-end housing markets serving as a potential launching pad for a Netflix spinoff, Lee noted.
'It would be fun to have [the show] here'
Lee is preparing for another spike in calls and interest from agents once the second season of "Owning Manhattan" releases later this year. As for what role Serhant's Arizona office could play in future seasons, Lee passed along a suggestion for a possible title.
"I coined a term that I'm hoping Netflix uses: 'Owning Paradise,'" he said, referring to Paradise Valley and other high-end neighborhoods in the Phoenix metro.
As of May 31, Paradise Valley, nestled between the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale, had a median sale price for a single-family home of $4.8 million, up 12% year over year and well above the Phoenix median sale price of $496,052, according to Homes.com data. The median sales price in Scottsdale was $1.27 million.
"It would be fun to have [the show] here. I don't want to be a character ... I want to be behind the scenes and let the agents have the fun with that," Lee said.
Serhant's push to make its mark in the Phoenix market comes as the local for-sale inventory reached 24,365 in May — its highest point since at least 2018, according to Homes.com data.
High-end luxury
Serhant's office is located in a coworking outpost at Bond, a high-end property in Phoenix's Camelback Corridor that's undergone a significant transformation with near-top-of-the-market rents. The choice to locate within Bond was an intentional decision by Serhant as it looks to work in the upper levels of the luxury market.
"Right here, you're in the three of the most affluent areas of the city. You've got Biltmore, Paradise Valley and Arcadia — a huge affluent area. Being centrally located was key," Lee said. "We're not just luxury, but high-end luxury. This building helps push that [reputation] forward."
Lee added that the firm is looking to secure a long-term office space at Bond as it grows its production locally over the coming months.
"We have a dollar amount and once we hit that plateau — at that point — we'll plant our flag. Right now, we're here," Lee said. "[Serhant] wants to stay in this building [full time]. Hopefully there's still space at that time by the time we hit [those benchmarks]. I know this building is filling up fast."