For more years then most people care to admit members of the SIBOR Building Search Committee and the Board of Directors have felt like the proverbial ant pushing a bolder up the hill as they struggled and searched for a new facility for the Staten Island Board of Realtors, the Staten Island Multiple Listing Service and the Richmond County Real Estate Institute.  Being Realtors made for even more frustration and embarrassment.  But the task was more difficult then one might imagine.  The major frustrations about the existing facility at 129 New Dorp Plaza was the inability to restructure the facility to meet the changing needs of the staff, the lack of adequate classroom and meeting facilities and the utter lack of appropriate parking facilities.

Many options and many locations were reviewed over the years.  SIBOR owns the current facility and a majority of directors felt a very strong desire to remain owners.  But trying to find a lot, or existing facility, that allowed for the space requirements and reasonable parking capability proved an overwhelming obstacle for an organization with SIBOR's limited financial capability.  Any real purchase situation would have left the treasury empty

and saddled the association with an overwhelming mortgage situation.   Alas,

it finally occurred to the directors that an association, unlike an individual, does not plan to retire sometime in the future.  So, building a nest egg for retirement isn't a SIBOR goal, as it might be for a broker. Surely, it would be nice to build equity in a purchased facility, but it might be better to retain our strategic reserve and build equity in the bank through dividends.  And in the end that was the decision that was made.

So the Staten Island Board of Realtors has signed a lease to occupy 8,700 square feet at 1535 Richmond Avenue in the Executive Offices of the former corporate headquarters of Staten Island Bank and Trust (currently Independence Community Bank).  The building is four years old and in excellent condition.  The bank will be retaining space on the bottom two floors.  SIBOR will occupy approximately 2/3 of the upper floor and the rest will be leased to future tenants.

The new SIBOR headquarters will be divided into a space for the Richmond County Real Estate Institute and another space for SIBOR and the Staten Island Multiple Listing Service.  The latter space will be occupied in its current condition, with little modification.  The RCREI space will require renovation.  RCREI will have two dedicated classrooms for 36-45 students and 24-30 students, respectively.  The plan is to divide the space with a moveable wall to allow for larger classes, when needed.  The facility will have state-of-the-art audio visual capabilities.

The SIBOR and MLS space will include a board room and second meeting room, staff lounge, and staff offices/cubicles. 

The organization will share a common reception area that will include a receptionist.

CEO Sandy Krueger said, "The new facility is one that will make all SIBOR realtors proud.  It has excellent visibility on Richmond Avenue, it's a Class A space and it is easy to get to.  The parking is good.  We'll be sharing the space with a quality organization, the bank, and the space is beautiful.  It's arguably the nicest office building on Staten Island.  We hope to be in by June.  Everyone on the staff is anxious to get there and we know we can service the needs of our members better by being in a facility that matches the professionalism all realtors strive for."