Executive Summary of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty and Realtie, LLC’s New Partnership:
1. Exclusive Partnership for HB1110 Upzone Opportunity
Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) partnered exclusively with Realtie, a proptech firm, to leverage AI-powered software targeting redevelopment opportunities stemming from Washington’s House Bill 1110. This legislation mandates upzoning of single-family lots to allow for diverse housing types.
2. AI-Driven Solutions for Land Redevelopment
Realtie’s platform uses predictive analytics to identify redevelopment sites, match landowners with developers, and streamline processes through virtual architectural tools and development proformas. This accelerates housing development cycles and addresses Washington’s affordable housing crisis.
3. Billions in Development Sales Volume Potential
HB1110 affects over 1.2 million home sites, with projections of $756 billion in redevelopment value over ten years. Even conservative adoption rates suggest an annual market of $37.8 billion in new housing inventory, driving significant economic activity.
4. Regional Housing Needs and Urban Planning Impact
The Puget Sound region, with 80% of its land zoned single-family, faces a critical housing shortage, requiring 46,000 new units immediately and 810,000 by 2050. HB1110 facilitates “middle housing” solutions, potentially doubling inventory at reduced sizes and price points.
5. Strategic Integration and Market Leadership
RSIR and Realtie aim to set a benchmark for navigating zoning changes, with specialized broker training, consumer zoning knowledge centers, and partnerships with developers. The initiative positions RSIR at the forefront of real estate innovation, addressing both affordability and inventory gaps.
Executives at Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) announced the signing of an exclusive licensing agreement with Realtie, LLC – a startup proptech company that has developed artificial-intelligence-powered analytical software to identify potential redevelopment sites throughout Washington’s largest municipalities. Washington House Bill 1110 (HB1110), also known as the “Middle Housing Bill,” aims to increase middle housing in areas traditionally dedicated to single-family detached housing; requiring cities to allow a broader range of housing types and limiting how they can regulate this housing. The bill was signed into law on July 23, 2023, by the Washington State Legislature and requires municipal governments to comply by July 1, 2025. Traditional single-family lots with a house will be upzoned to allow the development of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhouses, stacked flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage housing, albeit the final zoning guidelines will vary from city to city. The RSIR/Realtie partnership will create the region’s first vertically integrated solution for identifying suitable land opportunities and playing matchmaker with local developers. This alignment of zoning, technology, brokerage, design, and development services will result in a plethora of residential listings targeting more attainable product types and price points. The platform is directly addressing the affordable housing crisis.
“We are elated to partner with Realtie on this first-to-market solution, which will be implemented immediately upon municipal governments publishing their response to the HB1110 mandate,” said Dean Jones, President and CEO of RSIR. “Our platform provides a win-win-win scenario for the existing owners of land, the ecosystem of partners within the redevelopment process, and the consumer seeking attainable housing options.”
According to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment reported by The Puget Sound Regional Council’s (“PSRC”) Vision 2050, more than 80% of the region is zoned single-family and the production of new housing is two years behind (with 46,000 new units needed immediately to address the supply backlog). Furthermore, PSRC predicts that 810,000 more housing units are needed to accommodate the regional population growth, which is expected to top 5.8 million residents by 2050.
The Realtie platform deployed at RSIR is not just a tool, it is an exclusive and competitive advantage. Users of the technology will be able to scan the landscape for potential listings and predict sellers that are likely to enter the market soon and/or target would-be sellers with compelling valuations and turnkey solutions to sell to local builders while enjoying bespoke relocation services. The virtual architect can be deployed to test-fit a development plan on the parcel with or without the existing structure and consider slope, environmentally critical areas, and other considerations in seconds. The proprietary development proforma is consulted by savvy developer clients, who may either purchase from the seller or partner with the landowner. Numerous deal structures are contemplated.
“This is the most consequential land use upzone in the history of Washington State and it presents a real estate brokerage opportunity like no other,” said Tadashi Shiga, a Co-Founder of Realtie LLC, and the Executive Director of the Land Division for RSIR. “We have assembled a deep bench of industry professionals to advise our clientele with land residual analysis, and then explore real estate disposition, assembly, and potential joint venture relationships.”
Realtie and RSIR predict that more than 1.2 million home sites in Washington State (based on Census 2020) will be affected by HB1110 in Tier A and Tier B cities, which target a range of two to six homes per lot and allow two ADUs (auxiliary dwelling units). Over ten years, assuming just 20% of this land is redeveloped with an average unit size of 1,200 sq. ft. and a conservative valuation of $600 per sq. ft., this equates to $756 billion in new housing development potential. Even at half this rate, if only 5% of these landowners sell a year, that is still 62,000 properties worth $37.8 billion in new inventory annually. Unlike high-rise condominiums or apartments, which can take three to six years to entitle, construct and fully occupy, the micro clusters of in-fill units within single-family neighborhoods can be permitted, developed, and occupied in 18 months or so. It is also possible for municipalities to have test-fit designs in place for rapid permitting and increase the adoption of new zoning and entice developers with quicker project cycles.
The City of Redmond was among the first to respond to HB1110. For perspective, in 2024 there were 1,089 homes sold in the municipality. Of this, the typical price for a new construction home commanded $785 per sq. ft. for a 3,200 sq. ft. single-family home, which averaged $2.5 million. In 2025, assuming the same sales velocity as 2024, and estimating 20% of the lots are redeveloped, the conservative potential is for 1,200 new units under the revised zoning. This will allow for more than twice the new home inventory at half the size and half the price.
Shiga joined RSIR on July 29, 2019, with the expressed intent of leading the new Land Division to collaborate on development projects that would meet the rising demand for attainable, in-fill housing for sale. He acknowledged that Jones, as a former builder, has uniquely understood the opportunity and provided a scalable brokerage to support the groundswell of business. In 2023, Shiga partnered with Ofer Avnery, founder of Real Wave, an experienced software entrepreneur who also invested in real estate projects and began experimenting with artificial intelligence to help source land through predictive analytics.
“We are uniquely positioned to support HB1110 by building out consumer zoning knowledge centers for each city and leveraging our proprietary software to analyze new development opportunities in real-time,” said Avnery. “This is not a theory any longer, it is a functional platform that is generating land for our builders. We are fortunate to have partnered with Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty and leverage their experienced team of real estate advisors, along with their CLAY Agency for marketing support as we retail the inventory for our builders.”
Avnery has drawn on more than 30 years in information technology and has become an industry mastermind with the integration of AI for hyper-scaling software and marketing solutions. In 2016, he created Real Wave with the intent of betting on the properties where Seattle’s Housing Affordable and Livability Agenda (HALA), as introduced in 2015, would lead to the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program. The approach successfully predicted upzones and Avnery cultivated hundreds of properties. The Realtie platform is a transferable silver bullet that can be reloaded repeatedly for local targeting or elsewhere. For example, Avnery has made similar bets for Atlanta, Georgia, which is anticipated to have its new Zoning Ordinance adopted by summer 2025.
“We believe the Sotheby’s International Realty network and its local leadership are the best partners to scale with us. They have the infrastructure for training and supporting the program, while their agents are among the most trusted and productive in the industry” said Avnery. “We could be simultaneously deploying Realtie in Atlanta through Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty and in Arizona through Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty. Our team is also available to consult municipalities in any state that might be considering the propensity to flip the switch on progressive zoning legislation.”
As a former developer, Jones has positioned his firm at the precipice of zoning changes over the past 30 years throughout the Pacific Northwest. His first redevelopment in the early 1990s was an HB1110-like upzone property that he assembled along the Cambie Street corridor in Vancouver, BC. In the late 1990s his developer firm, T. Jones, Inc. successfully increased the tower site at 1420 Terry Avenue from 16 stories to 24 stories in exchange for an affordable housing contribution offsite through the Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program. In 2006, Jones and his development colleagues at The Justen Company, Weber-Thompson Architects and OPUS Northwest curated the archetype of the “tall and slender” tower zoning as part of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels’ “Center City Strategy”, which upzoned in-fill sites and required tower spacing. That project, known as Fifteen-Twenty-One Second Avenue, was the first of its kind, and it remains one of the most successful condominiums on the West Coast. These programs each provided funding for third-party affordable housing development.
“Municipal governments often struggle with housing policies, especially when voter pressures and NIMBY (‘not in my backyard’) mindsets challenge the changes,” added Jones. “With HB1110, it became a state-level decision that forces the hands of civic leaders to deliver on the agenda. The resulting land value increases will turn some NIMBYs into YIMBYs (‘yes in my backyard’). Our team is ready to support this property journey from initial concept to final closing and optimize the process every step of the way.”
Jones thinks the mandate will cause some competitive posturing between municipalities, which he likened to a modern-day “space race” in housing. The new zoning bylaws may be differentiated by permit fees, density of development, requirements for affordable housing funds, yard setbacks, parking mandates, and other developer considerations. It is also possible that some city leaders will wait and study other cities before announcing their revised zoning. Those guidelines could change after receiving feedback from the community and may ultimately respond to developer and consumer demand. Some municipalities could miss the mark, such as requiring aggressive fees, and dissuade adoption and redevelopment.
“Local governments should be vying for developers to pay permit fees, drive population growth in their neighborhoods and support the business community, not to mention fill the schools and voter base,” said Jones. “It is good policy to provide more attainable housing and recycle some of the aging properties. The concept is not particularly novel, as it has been in place in other markets successfully. However, it is not a panacea because the inventory of land requires willing sellers to make their move. That is where our brokers come in as advisors. HB1110 is like adding fertilizer to fertile ground.”
Shiga and Jones are hosting a curriculum of broker training classes as an academy. The first orientation was held on February 27, 2025. As RSIR brokers become certified under the program, they will be given prospective would-be seller leads to work into land listings and help in the relocation of prior residents. The broker may also continue to list back the property for the builder or refer to RSIR’s New Development division to manage the retail sales. Each faculty requires specialization to be effective.
Realtie has already harvested business using its new lead generation modules and recently, Avnery’s husband, Amnon Bruck, moved his real estate license to RSIR to fully integrate under one brand umbrella. Realtie’s alignment under RSIR will help with broker recruiting and retention for the collective brand. Other land brokers have also joined RSIR, and future land brokers are in training. Shiga is drawing upon his 20-year history working with many of Puget Sound’s in-fill builders as a broker and real estate advisor, and he is in a position to integrate his technology and propagate their project trajectory. Having direct relationships with top builders also provides the industry brain trust to consider zoning changes, address inflation, and foster innovation.
“I was fortunate to build a significant resale company off the new construction pipeline 15 years ago when the market cycled then, and now both divisions are in full growth mode,” added Jones. “We are strategically moving to where the market is moving next and getting there first. The lack of affordable inventory is the Achilles heel in our industry, which contributed to a 40 percent correction in sales volumes peak-to-trough over recent years. Our investment with HB1110 should help fill in that delta quickly while our exclusive arrangement with Realtie scales both companies and counters industry commoditization.”
Industry thought leaders agree with the strategy. Matthew Gardner, a local economist with Gardner Economics, worked on HB1110 as an advisor on this groundbreaking legislation and is now advising RSIR on their growth trajectory.
“The Realtie/RSIR alignment is the right solution, in the right place, at the right time,” said Gardner. “For several reasons, the new zoning adoption will take some time to deliver meaningful inventory, but I agree this is a crucial policy initiative that will add some oil to the housing engine and generate more inventory at price points that have been remarkably elusive.”
A media event will be hosted at 1:11 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at the RSIR Bellevue Branch offices located at 10237 Main Street, Bellevue–the same day that the Federal Reserve meets on the US bank rate and brings the future of real estate mortgages and housing affordability into view. Principals of RSIR and Realtie will provide a demonstration of the software and highlight newly launched consumer websites. To date, the most comprehensive municipality has been Redmond, Washington. By example of Realtie’s commitment to build out similar portals for all municipalities, view that regionalized website.
Realtie was born from the vision of Co-Founders Tadashi Shiga and Ofer Avnery—industry leaders dedicated to leveraging AI and deep market intelligence to streamline land acquisition, optimize development, and empower real estate professionals. By integrating cutting-edge technology with decades of real estate expertise, Realtie is redefining how brokers, developers, and landowners identify and capitalize on opportunities. Visit www.Realtie.com
Real Wave, founded in 2015 by Ofer Avnery, is an innovative AI technology company specializing in advanced, AI-powered solutions for real estate, tech, finance, and lead generation. Leveraging cutting-edge artificial intelligence, computer vision, and intelligent automation, Real Wave empowers businesses to optimize operations, boost sales efficiency, and deliver personalized customer experiences at scale. Real Wave’s dynamic suite of tools streamlines complex processes, uncovers hidden opportunities, and positions its partners at the forefront of technological advancement. Visit www.RealWave.com
*Explore the full Puget Sound Business Journal article here.
Read more by Seattle Agent Magazine on the “Missing Middle” here.
Watch the full Realtie podcast from Fox Den here.