Coldwell Banker Company

New Franchisee: Coldwell Banker Corp., the Mission Viejo real estate brokerage firm, has selected Coastco Real Estate in Long Beach to be a new franchisee. Called Coldwell Banker Coastco Real Estate, the franchise has agreed to purchase the only Coldwell Banker company-owned office in Long Beach and combine those two operations.

Betty Graham has been named president and chief operating officer of residential real estate brokerage Coldwell Banker's Greater Los Angeles region. Graham succeeds Scott Gibson, who was promoted to senior vice president for parent company NRT Inc. and will move to New Jersey. Graham was the manager of the company's top-producing Beverly Hills North office. She is a former regional manager and vice president of Jon Douglas Co., which became affiliated with Coldwell Banker in 1997.

Coldwell Banker Relocation Services, the only remaining Coldwell Banker business unit headquartered in Mission Viejo, is moving its corporate staff back East, probably to Connecticut, where parent HFS Inc. has a group of similar operations. As part of this restructuring, 20 local positions will be moved or eliminated, while 180 regional positions will remain, company officials say. Stephen C.

In a deal that could create the largest residential real estate brokerage in Orange County, Coldwell Banker Southern California has acquired Coast Newport Properties for an undisclosed sum. Coast Newport, based in Newport Beach, specializes in high-end homes along the county's coast. The deal is part of a consolidation trend that has swept the industry over the last three years. Coldwell Banker itself is owned by NRT Inc.

In a further sign that Orange County's economy is improving, Coldwell Banker said Thursday that it is planning to hire 47 full-time workers at its corporate headquarters. "We're going to need a whole new slew of people," company spokesman Hugh Siler said. In particular, the company is looking for computer programmers, database administrators, analysts and others. The company plans to buy newspaper advertisements and hold a job fair in January.

HFS Inc. said Friday that it has completed the acquisition of Coldwell Banker Corp. and has named a new chief executive of the Mission Viejo real estate company. Veteran Coldwell Banker President and CEO Chandler B. Barton becomes chairman of the Board of Trustees, a move that limits his day-to-day role in the company. Barton, 62, joined the company in 1979 and has led Coldwell Banker since 1989. John D. Snodgrass, president and chief operating officer of HFS, succeeds Barton as chief executive.

The pending acquisition of Coldwell Banker Corp. has moved the nation's slow-to-change real estate industry another big step toward consolidation, with analysts suggesting that the industry could eventually become a high-tech network of "one-stop shops" that will change the way homes are bought and sold throughout the world. New Jersey-based HFS Inc.

As many as 600,000 more residents may move to Orange County this decade, and many of them will live in or near the central part of the county. Over the next 10 years foreigners will almost certainly wind up owning many more than the 35 major buildings they own now. And the boom in office and factory construction that marked much of the 1980s may slow down considerably as defense spending slackens in the 1990s.

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate--a Sears subsidiary based in Newport Beach--says it will expand into Canada. The company said it will affiliate with independent real estate brokerages and will not actively pursue buying brokerages. The third-largest brokerage in the nation, Coldwell Banker has 2,100 offices, about half owned by the company and half affiliates.

Coldwell Banker Southern California announced Thursday that it had strengthened its foothold in the San Gabriel Valley market by acquiring Podley Caughey & Doan and William Wilson Co. The two firms, which merged in 1996 when Podley acquired Wilson, are the latest additions to Coldwell Banker, the largest residential real estate brokerage in the Southland.

In a move that mirrors a consolidation trend among real estate brokerages, Coldwell Banker Southern California said Thursday that it has acquired McGarvey Clark Realtors, a major independent firm in north Orange County, for an undisclosed sum. Analysts said national firms are sweeping up local real estate businesses that find it more difficult to attract buyers who are relocating to Southern California and lack the resources to invest in Internet Web sites that could help raise their profiles.

In a move that mirrors a consolidation trend among real estate brokerages, Coldwell Banker Southern California said it has acquired McGarvey Clark Realtors, a major independent firm in North Orange County, for an undisclosed sum. Analysts said national firms are sweeping up local real estate businesses that find it more difficult to attract buyers who are relocating to Southern California and lack the resources to invest in Web sites that could help raise their profiles.

The parent of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage said Thursday that it bought Jon Douglas Co. of Beverly Hills, the nation's third-largest real estate brokerage, for an undisclosed price. Coldwell Banker, already No. 1 nationwide among real estate brokerages, doubles its size in Southern California with the purchase and will obliterate the Jon Douglas name everywhere but in its West Los Angeles stronghold.

Coldwell Banker Relocation Services, the only remaining Coldwell Banker business unit headquartered in Mission Viejo, is moving its corporate staff back East, probably to Connecticut, where parent HFS Inc. has a group of similar operations. As part of this restructuring, 20 local positions will be moved or eliminated, while 180 regional positions will remain, company officials say. Stephen C.

Coldwell Banker to Relocate Franchise Arm to N.J.: The announcement comes just two months after the Mission Viejo real estate firm was purchased by the world's largest hotel and real estate franchiser, HFS Inc. Parsippany, N.J.-based HFS acquired Coldwell in a deal worth $740 million earlier this year, part of the wave of consolidation in the nation's real estate industry.

Coldwell Banker Corp.'s franchise arm will move to New Jersey just two months after the Mission Viejo real estate firm was purchased by the world's largest hotel and real estate franchiser there. Parsippany-based HFS Inc. acquired Coldwell in a deal worth $740 million in May, part of the wave of consolidation in the nation's real estate industry.

HFS Inc. said Friday that it has completed the acquisition of Coldwell Banker Corp. and has named a new chief executive of the Mission Viejo real estate company. Veteran Coldwell Banker President and CEO Chandler B. Barton becomes chairman of the Board of Trustees, a move that limits his day-to-day role in the company. Barton, 62, joined the company in 1979 and has led Coldwell Banker since 1989. John D. Snodgrass, president and chief operating officer of HFS, succeeds Barton as chief executive.