Big things are happening here at BlankSlate! On May 1st we sold our QueensNYC blog to our partner Brownstoner. They’re going to transition the site and rename it Brownstoner Queens. Over the next few weeks, the site will take on Brownstoner’s voice and unique perspective on real estate.

Queens is changing quickly — there are tons of new residential properties being developed and a huge influx of young professionals are moving in to avoid Brooklyn-sized rents. Plus, Manhattan is just 10 minutes away by train. And of course there’s Queens’ long history of diversity and, who could forget, the food!

We started QueensNYC a year ago and its success reflects Queens’ own. As Queens grows, so must the site to keep up with this dynamic borough. Who better to take it over than Brownstoner? Brownstoner started in 2004 and rode the wave of change that hit Brooklyn, documenting it the whole way.

Just like with the original Brownstoner, BlankSlate will provide the technology side of everything and run the ad network that involves the other sites in our growing portfolio. So check out QueensNYC as it makes the transition to Brownstoner Queens. We hope you’re as excited as we are!

Brownstoner founder Jonathan Butler’s venture-ing into Queens [NY Daily News]

Brownstoner Queens to Launch Later This Month [Brownstoner]

Paul Knegten over on Closing Time’s Fixing Real Estate blog has put together this great chart showing the companies that make up the real estate space, including BlankSlate.

Congratulations to our partner Prince Of Petworth and to Dan Silverman for being named Best Neighborhood Blog by the Washington Post’s Metro Express.

Our sales manager Brad Einhorn will represent BlankSlate at the Street Fight Summit West in San Francisco on June 5th. If you are interested in learning more about BlankSlate, please track Brad down! Also, check out this recent Street Fight post which featured BlankSlate.

We are really thrilled that PrinceofPetworth (PoP) was just named the #1 Local Blog by Washington City Paper. Our partnership with PoP began at the end of December 2012 and we are so pleased to have played a small part in helping the site achieve such well-deserved recognition.

Also a shout-out to Qualia Coffee one of PoP’s advertisers who was named Best Coffee Shop!

BlankSlate has added Brokelyn to its partner portfolio. Brokelyn, one of the largest sites in Brooklyn, is a much loved site that focuses on how to “live big on small change” in Brooklyn. The site now carries the BlankSlate events calendar, classifieds, and business directory. The business directory offers listing advertisers the ability to offer readers of the site a “Brokelyn Bucks” discount when readers mention the site. Brooklyn rental listings and other tools will be added in the coming weeks. With the addition of Brokelyn, BlankSlate now has an an advertising reach in Brooklyn of over 600,000 unique visitors and two million page views a month.

BlankSlate is partnering with ARLnow, to bring our real estate listings solution to the site. ARLnow, is led by Scott Brodbeck, who has won accolades for his local coverage and local business model. The addition of ARLnow enables BlankSlate to offer real estate advertisers a very large readership and a coverage area that includes Arlington, DC, and Baltimore.

BlankSlate has relaunched the Baltimore Fishbowl, adding solutions and sales management to the site. The site currently has BlankSlate’s real estate listings and events calendar, and other solutions will be added in the coming weeks. The Fishbowl was founded by Susan Dunn, who is the former founder of a Baltimore city magazine called Paper Doll. Susan was a Fellow at the Knight Foundation’s News Entrepreneur Boot Camp in 2011. The Fishbowl is the second property BlankSlate has partnered with in the DC area.

BlankSlate announced today at the Street Fight Summit in NYC that is has signed Prince of Petworth to its customer list. Prince of Petworth is a blog that has grown to one of DC’s largest. BlankSlate will add its real estate listings marketplace, classifieds, business directory, community calendar, and community forum products to Prince of Petworth turning it from a WordPress blog to a complete local site for the DC area. BlankSlate will also handle ad sales, bringing Prince of Petworth in to BlankSlate’s ad network.

BlankSlate’s local technology and sales solution was launched in April 2011 when it signed its first customer, the leading Brooklyn blog Brownstoner. Brownstoner was launched more than seven years ago, and generates more traffic than all of Brooklyn’s local newspapers combined. BlankSlate has grown Brownstoner’s advertiser count to more than 400, with solutions for advertisers starting at only $24.95 per month.

Says BlankSlate’s CEO and Founder Kael Goodman: “We’re thrilled at how well Brownstoner has done and we’re sure Prince of Petworth will do just as well. We think our approach of providing the technology and ad sales allows bloggers to do what they love – write and engage with people in the community. We’ll be announcing additional customers soon too.”

Says Dan Silverman, Prince of Petworth’s publisher: “I’m super excited to be working with Blankslate.  I’ve already transitioned my advertisers and am looking forward to the site’s new capabilities with the November re-launch.  What started as a hobby five years ago has exceeded all expectations – I can’t wait to see where the next five years takes it with Blankslate as a partner.

Times Review Newsgroup, eastern Long Island’s leading news company, has announced a new real estate site that from day one has extensive coverage of the region’s sale and rental listings. Using BlankSlate’s real estate solution, Times Review was able to easily feed listings from the region’s MLS, as well as directly from broker’s sites. The site launches with several thousand of the regions listings and expands Times Review’s relationships with real estate companies from print to the web, offering them access to the region’s online audience.

BlankSlate has been working with Times Review for several months, first helping with web strategy, then migrating their CMS to WordPress from a proprietary system, and now adding the BlankSlate real estate solution. At 500,000 monthly pageviews, Times Review already has one of the most trafficked sites in eastern Long Island.

From The Suffolk Times:

“We are very excited about offering our readers the ability to easily search local real estate listings and find open houses all in one place,” said Times/Review publisher Andrew Olsen. “The feedback from brokers and readers has been very positive. People love to search real estate listings whether they are in the market to purchase or not.”

You can find the new real estate site on all of Times Review’s sites: The Suffolk Times, Riverhead News-Review, and Shelter Island Reporter.