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Trio begins new ‘ERA’ with tri-county area franchise
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
When Cas Danielowski and Chris Hamilton went shopping for a real estate franchise, they looked at the big names—including Coldwell Banker and Keller Williams—but it was ERA that got their attention.
They decided that ERA, which is big in the Northeast, Midwest, California, Texas and Florida, was the name that would best attract many of the homebuyers moving to Charleston.
“There’s a lot of what are called ‘half-backs,’” Hamilton said. “Those are people who’ve moved to Florida from the North, and now they’re moving halfway back. We’re at an advantage because people recognize this brand.”
Hamilton and Danielowski, both businessmen who have worked in real estate development, along with their broker in charge, Teri Victor, formerly of Agent
Owned Realty, opened ERA Tides Realty at 140 W. Richardson Ave. in Summerville, a little more than a month ago.
Since then, this ERA franchise, only the second in the Charleston area, has experienced steady growth, and they say there is more in store for the future.
ERA, owned by Cendant, which also owns Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, has long had a presence in the Lowcountry through Harper Realty in Ladson, which has been in business since 1990.
Unlike other real estate companies that have a wide presence and multiple offices throughout the area, however, the Harper Realty office in Ladson has remained the only ERA branch in the Charleston area, with the next closest being in Bluffton.
Danielowski, Hamilton and Victor are out to change that and quickly.
ERA Tides Realty is currently operating out of a circa-1880s building on a prominent corner in downtown Summerville, a location that was picked to strategically place the office at the center of what Danielowski calls “explosive growth.”
Danielowski and Hamilton bought the ERA franchise, which gives them the right to use the ERA name and various ERA services for 10 years, but they declined to say how much cash is involved with such a purchase, saying only that it is not as expensive as some might think. Their investment into renovating the 7,000-square-foot office ran them about $10 a square foot.
Sitting in their freshly painted conference room, Danielowski and Hamilton said, so far, their investment is paying off.
As of mid-October, the office had handled six closings and scored seven residential listings and two commercial listings. It had also recruited 18 sales associates, some new to real estate, others with a history of selling millions of dollars worth of property at other companies.
The success of the past several weeks has ERA Tides Realty excited about what is yet to come.
By year’s end the ERA Tides team expects 40 associates to be working out of the Summerville office and using ERA’s technology, which includes a lead router that sends associates information about potential sales within seconds and a phone and Internet system that allows agents to work virtually from home or from anywhere in the country.
As the Summerville office grows, Danielowski said he would like to look at opening other offices.
“By the middle of next year, we’ll be looking to expand with an office in Mount Pleasant, and an office in West Ashley could follow possibly by the end of the year,” Danielowski said, though he added that the expansion will be controlled to a certain extent by factors he cannot control.
At Harper Realty, broker James Harper said he welcomes another ERA franchise.
“I think it’s great. It’s going to give more exposure to ERA. We’ve been the only one,” he said.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.
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