Howard Hanna Acquires Elegran Real Estate

16 October 2025

Howard Hanna has officially planted its flag in Manhattan.

One of the nation’s largest brokerages announced on Thursday that it acquired Elegran Real Estate, the 17-year-old firm founded by CEO Michael Rossi. Under its new ownership, the company, headquartered in Midtown, will be referred to as Howard Hanna Elegran.

Howard Hanna has been expanding in the outer boroughs and New York City suburbs in recent years as it evaluated opportunities to set up shop in Manhattan, according to Howard Hanna CEO Hoby Hanna.

Elegran — which placed 15th in The Real Deal’s latest ranking of the top brokerages in Manhattan with $118 million in sales — was “a great company to give us entrée and use as a springboard,” said Hanna.

Hanna added that he and Rossi had discussed joining forces a few years ago, but the “timing wasn’t right for either of us.” Rossi then circled back in the spring, “and here we are today,” he said.

A spokesperson for Elegran declined to share additional details about the acquisition, including the purchase price, citing a confidential agreement.

The company’s existing New York City offices include a location in the Bronx and in Queens. Howard Hanna acquired a Long Island-based firm, Coach Realtors, in 2023, and under their combined umbrella, expanded to Astoria through the acquisition of Marquee Realty.

Elegran’s 157 agents will join Howard Hanna’s network of 3,500 agents across the tri-state area. The firm launched operations in New York state a decade ago and has since become its largest in agent headcount and number of transactions, according to a press release.

Rossi will remain on board with the company as an executive vice president with a focus on growth and development in New York City. He’ll be working alongside Matt Rand, the firm’s regional president.

“It’s very tough, post-class action lawsuits and the FARE Act, to be an independent firm and thrive in this market,” Rossi said.

He added that the “timing was perfect” considering the wave of consolidation in the industry, which hit a peak last month when Compass and Anywhere Real Estate announced a seismic merger deal expected to close next year.

“I wish I knew that the Compass news was happening,” Rossi said.”That would have made me the smartest guy in the world.”

Both Rossi and Hanna billed increased consolidation as an advantage for the privately-held company, which Hanna described as “nimble” and a “good attraction point for agents and brokerages that are looking for that flexibility, as opposed to big corporate philosophies.”

“The consumer really needs a choice,” Rossi said. “It’s like Pepsi and Coke in the refrigerator.”

News of the acquisition comes after Elegran ended its licensing agreement with Forbes Global Properties earlier this year, sparking rumors of a potential takeover that eventually pegged Howard Hanna as the likely frontrunner months ahead of the official announcement.

Rossi confirmed through a spokesperson in June that the brokerage was no longer part of the Forbes network and that it was working on a “new collaboration,” though he declined to share more details at the time.

Rossi said the “whispering” was because “we kept agents abreast of the conversations we were having and the direction we were thinking of going.”

Several agents have left Elegran over the last few months, including its managing director Jared Antin, who joined Brown Harris Stevens as an executive director in July. The following month, two other teams, the Asset Advisory Team and the Waterview Advisory Group, also left Elegran to join Coldwell Banker Warburg.

News of the agents’ departure “made it seem like we lost a lot of people,” Rossi said. “But we’ve only lost three revenue-generating agents who were incentivized to bring over non-producing agents to Coldwell Banker.”

“During a time of transition, our retention has been industry standard,” Rossi said. “Actually, given the transition, our retention’s been incredible. No one likes change.”