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4 | M R EP O RT MTECH @properties Announces First Franchise ALEXANDER REAL ESTATE WILL ADOPT @PROPERTIES' BRANDING, MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGY. C hicago-based @properties, the nation's 10th largest residential brokerage firm by sales volume, and Alexander Real Estate, which has offices in downtown Detroit and Royal Oak, Michigan, announced that Alexander will become the first @properties franchise in the country. @properties co-founders, Thad Wong and Mike Golden, @prop- erties president of brand growth, Chris Lim, and Alexander Real Estate partners, Eric Walstrom, Alex Irrer, and Matt O'Laughlin made the announcement. Last September, @properties launched a national franchise brand to offer its broker-owners and agent teams across the country access to technology, marketing, training, and business- development systems. Alexander, which currently has 45 agents, will leverage those systems to quickly grow from $120 million to $500 million in annual sales by gaining market share in the areas it currently serves and expanding throughout the Detroit Metro Area. The firm will change its name to @properties, Walstrom noted. "As a company, we have ambi- tious goals, none more important than attracting the best agents in the market, giving them top-of-the- line tools to grow their business, and delivering a superior client experience," Walstrom said. "We looked at a lot of different paths to take us where we want to go, and ultimately we decided @properties was the brand that would contrib- ute the most to our success." "Alexander is the perfect company to carry the @proper- ties franchise brand into the real estate arena," Wong. said "The firm is focused on growing the right way: quality over quantity; support for agents; a commitment to adopting our systems and re- sources; and a 'real-estate-is-local' attitude that has inspired a loyal following." Walstrom and Irrer founded Alexander Real Estate in 2016 in Royal Oak, a close-in suburb of Detroit. In 2018, they partnered with O'Laughlin to open an office in Midtown. Over the next three years, Alexander tripled its sales volume and became the No. 1 brokerage firm in the downtown market, as well as the city's No. 1 broker for new-construction and adaptive- reuse developments. Now, the company is looking to make its mark on the Detroit suburbs. Walstrom said near-term expan- sion will focus on the communi- ties of Grosse Pointe, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Plymouth, and Northville. Eventually, the firm will move into the Ann Arbor market as well. Wong and Golden founded Getting a Head Start These highlighted companies are leading the way in tech, innovation, and business growth.