Edward Lee Cave Inc., one of the city's leading most prestigious residential real estate brokerages, has signed a letter of intent to be consolidated into Brown, Harris Stevens, according to an article published in The New York Times February 20, 2009 by Josh Barbanel.

The company will continue to operate as an independent division, headed by its current president, Carolyn Guthrie, and "with the help of its founder, Edward Lee Cave, an art historian and former head of decorative arts at Sotheby's," the auction house, the article state.

Mr. Cave, it continued, "helped found Sotheby's International Realty in 1976 and left to form his own company in 1981."

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed bt Hall F. Willkie, the president of Brown Harris Stevens, but Mr. Cave will license his name to Brown Harris Stevens for a period of years, the article said, adding that Mr. Willkie, who was hired at Sotheby's by Mr. Cave in the 1970s, said that an affiliation had been under discussion long before the recession.

"'I would assume that almost every firm has a negative cash flow,' said Hall F. Willkie, the president of Brown Harris Stevens. While the number of closings filed each week is still plummeting, he said that the pace of new deal making had picked up a bit in January and February," the article stated.

The article said that Mr. Cave's firm currently lists 11 town houses and apartments, down from 14 a year ago, and 17 at the height of the spring season last April, according to figures provided by Streeteasy.com, and that the asking price of the average listing was off 22 percent from a year ago.

Mr. Willkie told Mr. Barbanel that he expected business to pick up further, especially for firms like Mr. Cave's, with the most experienced brokers, adding that "We believe strongly in the brand," Mr. Willkie said.