Pasadena’s Deasy Penner Podley/DPP Splits with Side

After an 18-month union with Side, luxury boutique firm Deasy Penner Podley/DPP has cut ties with the San Francisco-based white-label brokerage.

DPP will return to handling brokerage services in-house. Last week, DPP changed its broker of record to Home As Art, the original name of DPP, on its California Department of Real Estate profile.

”Deasy Penner Podley decided to return to its roots,” CEO George Penner wrote in an email.

Guy Gal, Side’s CEO, said that the two companies were growing in different directions and that the split was amicable.

DPP’s affiliation with Side made a big splash when it was announced in September 2021. At the time, DPP was Side’s biggest client by headcount. Penner said that DPP currently works with 250 agents and did $1.3 billion in sales volume in 2022. DPP specializes in selling architecturally notable and historic homes.

In a 2021 story by The Real Deal announcing the partnership, Penner said that Side’s technology took care of the firm’s back office operations while allowing DPP to keep its identity and independence.

Penner has other business interests, specifically in proptech. In 2023, Penner and Mike Deasy, DPP’s chairman, plan to re-introduce real estate negotiation software plumBid to the market. Penner and Deasy serve as co-owners along with other individuals of plumBid, which is a separate business from DPP, Penner said. DPP agents will use plumBid software.

Since Side announced its partnership with DPP, it had announced partnerships with other big real estate groups such as the Alexander brothers new firm Official. In 2021, the Alexander brothers reported that it closed $1.8 billion in sales. They have offices in Manhattan and Miami. It has been widely reported that their group, Official, will open a Los Angeles office.