Sudler Sotheby's buys Sussex & Reilly
(Crain's) — Sudler Sotheby's International Realty says it has acquired Century 21 Sussex & Reilly, a residential brokerage that specializes in North Side properties.
The deal doubles the size of Sudler to about 500 residential brokers and gives it a total of 10 Chicago offices, including the Gold Coast, Lakeview, Hyde Park and North Center and in the Loop at 213 N. Stetson Ave.
Terms of the deal, which closed Tuesday, were not disclosed. Sussex & Reilly owners Liz Scheffler and Glen Tomlinson declined to comment. A third partner, Don Battaglia, could not be reached.
Each of the firms sold about $600 million worth of residential real estate last year, says Janice Corley, president and CEO of Sudler Sotheby's.
"This is a good fit for us," she says. "It will help the real estate agents we have do more business."
Sudler casts itself as a luxury brokerage with good coverage in tony neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast. Century 21 Sussex & Reilly, a more meat-and-potatoes type of operation, is known for selling new construction projects in gentrifying North Side neighborhoods like Roscoe Village and Lincoln Square.
"This deal makes good bottom-line sense because it gives Sudler a chance to add more agents without recruiting them," says James Kinney, president of Chicago-based rival Rubloff Residential Properties, which was not involved in the deal. "But they have to decide on their identity. That'll be the real challenge of this merger."
Ms. Corley says her firm hasn't decided if it will keep the Sussex & Reilly name or fold it into the Sudler Sotheby's brand. Sussex & Reilly, which was founded in 2000, has four Chicago offices and one in west suburban Wheaton, according to its Web site.
Sudler plans to close the Wheaton branch, says Ms. Corley, adding that Sussex locations in the city could also be shuttered if they're found to overlap with existing Sudler offices.
Besides Ms. Corley, the other Sudler partners are Sergio Martinucci, Chaz Walters, Cynthia Bauer, Anthony Quartullo and George and Karina Caulfield.
