Nothnagle forming alliance with Howard Hanna

Rochester's largest realty firm, Nothnagle Realtors, is forming an alliance with Howard Hanna, a Pittsburgh-based real estate firm with a reach as far south as North Carolina and west into Michigan.

Armand D'Alfonso, who serves as president and CEO of Nothnagle Realtors, said the partnership is not a merger. Both companies will retain their own identities.

"We will remain in Rochester, grow in new markets and add employees," D'Alfonso said. "This partnership is going to allow Nothnagle to grow much faster than without the partnership."

The move will help both firms move into new territories, D'Alfonso said, adding they are eying Buffalo and Syracuse.

Nothnagle was founded in 1948. John T. Nothnagle opened the first Gallery of Homes in the Granite Building in downtown Rochester, where customers could view photographs of homes right in the office — then an innovation that menat so buyers wouldn't have to visit every home individually.

Like Nothnagle, Howard Hanna is a family-owned business. The two firms share many similarities in history and in business values, said Howard Hanna III, CEO of Howard Hanna.

Both believe in a hyper-local concept with local offices instead of one large regional office. Both firms are market leaders in their hometowns, with over a 30 percent market share, a rarity in the real estate industry, Hanna said.

"We believe in community offices," Hanna said. "We want real estate agents that really know the market."

Unlike other realty firms that have one central office, Nothnagle's 32 local offices are spread across myriad towns.

Nothnagle is headquartered in the Cascade District downtown, having moved from its Brighton headquarters in 2011. It has more than 900 real estate agents; some of its top agents include Holly Creek, Mark Siwiec and Patrick Hastings.

Nothnagle records $1.4 billion in annual sales, and Howard Hanna records $10 billion in annual sales. The combined partnership will create the third-largest realty firm in the U.S.

The partnership is a succession plan for the future of Nothnagle, said D'Alfonso, 55, noting that he wants to ensure the Nothnagle business will run smoothly when he retires. It is also a way to grow the business and fend off competitors while the company is strong, he added.

"If Kodak, when they were on top, had aligned with Apple, they would still be in business making cameras," D'Alfonso said.

MCHAO@DemocratandChronicle.com