Own Manhattan is the latest addition to Netflix’s growing empire of reality shows set in the world of luxury real estate. The show follows Ryan Serhant (former member of Bravo) Million dollar listing) and a dozen hand-picked agents at his real estate brokerage, SERHANT, as they race to close million-dollar deals across New York City. As with any show set in the Big Apple, the city and all of its eclectic residents are as entertaining as Serhant himself.
One of New York City’s most notorious personalities gets a surprising mention in Episode 2: Anna Delvey. The famous con artist posed as a rich heiress to make a name for herself in the highest circles of the city’s art scene. Over the course of four years, Anna Delvey defrauded and swindled banks, hotels and former friends out of $275,000. He served four years in prison for attempted grand larceny, second-degree larceny and theft of services.and later became the subject of a Netflix miniseries, Inventing Annastarring Emmy winner Julia Garner.
Let’s set the stage. SHERHANT agent Jade Shenker is a rarity in the brokerage because she’s interested in commercial real estate. “My goal at SERHANT is to run the best commercial pision New York has ever seen and make it sexy,” Jade shares with the audience in one of her confessionals. As Ryan Serhant notes, commercial real estate in New York is a “$20 trillion industry.” So it’s a no-brainer that would allow Shenker to stay in the field.
The building in question is a unique commercial property in Hell’s Kitchen. The silver structure on 11th Avenue has many windows of different sizes and is dedicated to the performing arts. A unique building needs a unique buyer, and Jade has found it in her client, Fation. While she is impressed with the building, she is not impressed with the $10 million asking price. “I’d be comfortable with $7 million,” Fation tells Jade. “Maybe $7.4 million is something I’m willing to go with.”
Even with a legitimate offer in hand, Jade knows it’s her duty to get the seller as many offers as possible. To accomplish this, she throws a party at the building to show off its amenities, such as gorgeous rooftop views and a first floor perfectly suited to be an art gallery. The night of the party, the space is covered in provocative artwork. As people flock to check out the scene, one of the agents, Jordan H, becomes fascinated by a particular painting as he walks around the room with Jade.
The camera pans to an art wall featuring a familiar-looking girl with caramel brown hair and thick black glasses. In one painting, the girl looks over her shoulder at a brick apartment building with a smaller, but more stylish, version of herself painted beneath the words “No One Is Safe.” Gazing at the work, Jordan H asks Jade, “Like, who is this artist?” “It’s Anna Delvey’s work,” Jade reveals. “Seriously!” Jordan H says in disbelief. “I can’t believe it.”
In his confessional, Jordan H observes, “Jade has a very interesting clientele.” When the show returns to showing Jade’s guests marveling at Anna’s art, Jade has her own confessional of hers. “I’m friend of [Anna’s] “I’m a publicist and manager,” Jade explains. “And through that, I’ve developed a relationship with her.” We cut back to the party and focus on another of Anna Delvey’s works: a woman in a sleek, black trench coat with a moving hood.
“While he was in prison, he decided to start painting,” Jade explains. She adds: “She was all over social media and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s put up your paintings and get people interested enough to take out their phones and take videos of this art.'” Like a real salesperson, Jade. she knows that people who post Anna Delvey’s work on social media will also capture “the walls of this building, the lighting and the incredible height of the ceiling.” In that moment, it becomes very clear why Jade is a rising star in SERHANT.
In the next episode, Jade meets up with Fation and his wife, Cathy, for drinks and some good news. The seller accepted her offer of 7.4 million! “This will be one of the many deals we will make together, I promise,” Fation says. “You definitely have my business in the future.” Jade smiles and encourages her client, enjoying knowing that she just earned a $444,000 commission on the deal. “You don’t need a boring man in a suit to sell commercial real estate,” Jade says confidently to the camera.
