URBALO

FIVE-YEAR GROWTH: 1,571.8% REVENUE: $40.4 MILLION NO. OF EMPLOYEES : 450

Last year, Chicago residential real estate brokerage @properties Inc. dropped $65,000 to rent Wrigley Field for a few hours so its brokers could swing bats and run bases in the firm’s annual softball tournament. The event, like the regular bowling leagues and movie nights @properties hosts, was designed to encourage collaboration and collegiality among brokers in the otherwise cutthroat field of real estate.

“We try to do things that make people feel a part of a team,” says Thaddeus Wong, 37, who co-founded the company and manages it with Michael Golden, 38. That camaraderie, they say, has helped fuel the exponential growth of the company, which they started in 2000 after leaving Property Consultants Realty.

“Once agents get to know each other, they socialize more and they talk about what they are doing,” Mr. Golden says. Soon, they are doing business together. “We work hard to foster that,” he adds. Last year, 40% of the firm’s real estate listings were sold to buyers represented by @property agents.

In less than seven years—a time that coincided with Chicago’s residential real estate boom—the firm’s revenue has increased nearly 25-fold, reaching $40.4 million in 2006.

A strong real estate market helped. Between 2001 and 2006, annual sales of single-family and multi-unit dwellings in Chicago increased 34% to 38,118, according to the Chicago Assn. of Realtors. While sales of homes fell last year from a peak of 43,526 the year before, sales were 76% higher in 2006 than a decade earlier, according to CAR.

Besides camaraderie, @properties uses other techniques to encourage sales, including rewarding the two brokers who sell the most properties listed in-house with overseas trips. One quarter last year, the winners went to Italy. Another time, to Paris. And any broker who sells $10 million worth of real estate, in any type of transaction, is offered the choice of a Rolex or a Cartier watch.

“We’ve had 51 people attain this,” Mr. Golden says. “Every one of those people still works for us.” To help brokers, the firm also subsidizes marketing services most other brokerages charge for, including virtual tours for listings on the Internet.

The private firm, which says it’s profitable, expects results for its generosity. Roughly 10% of its agents were asked to leave last year. The reason isn’t always performance. “We’ve asked agents to leave who are decent producers, but not team players,” Mr. Golden says.

The firm’s top seller last year was Scott Graden, a 33-year-old broker who specializes in high-end buyers and new developments, including a 52-unit condo development at 4434-4444 N. Damen Ave. He has worked at other local brokerages, including Koenig & Strey GMAC Inc. and Chicago Graystone Inc. “You don’t get a Rolex from other firms. You get a pat on the back and a $10 gift certificate,” says Mr. Graden, who sold $80 million worth of real estate last year.