Tenure Parallels Division’s Rapid Growth : Head of Coldwell Banker Residential Sales to Resign

Joe F. Hanauer will resign as chairman and chief executive of Coldwell Banker’s Newport Beach-based residential real estate group at the end of 1988 to pursue “personal business interests.”

The company said Thursday that it plans to name Hanauer’s successor later this year.

Hanauer, 50, has headed Coldwell Banker’s residential real estate operations since 1981. The company’s residential business has grown rapidly during that period, with its sales force swelling from 5,000 people in 1981 to more than 37,000 in 1987.

Last year, Coldwell Banker participated in 10% of existing-home sales in the United States, up from 1% in 1981, according to figures supplied by the company. The company has 953 company-owned residential real estate offices and 1,098 franchise offices throughout the United States.

The residential group, a unit of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group, had 1987 sales of $732.2 million. Coldwell Banker is owned by Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Besides its real estate brokerage offices, the residential group also operates relocation management and residential mortgage services. Coldwell Banker is one of Orange County’s largest commercial and residential real estate brokerages.

Hanauer, who lives in south Orange County, was president and controlling shareholder of Thorsen Realtors, a large Chicago real estate company, when he sold it to Coldwell Banker in 1977. He was put in charge of the residential group in 1981, was named group president in 1984 and chairman and chief executive in 1985.

In a brief interview Thursday, Hanauer said he is considering several business opportunities in Southern California. “I’ve been anxious for some time to be involved in personal business interests again,” he said.