The Agency has picked Boca Raton as its first South Florida location.
The Beverly Hills-based brokerage is opening an office at 20 Southeast Third Street in mid-November, according to Chris Franciosa and Jared Ringel, who are leading the Agency’s expansion in South Florida. Howard Elfman will be managing broker of the Boca Raton location.
Mauricio Umansky, CEO of the Agency, announced the Boca Raton opening during a brokerage panel at The Real Deal South Florida’s Real Estate Showcase & Forum on Thursday.
In addition to its home base in Beverly Hills, the firm has 25 offices in Brentwood, Calabasas, Danville, Malibu, Noe Valley, Venice, Orange County, Pacific Palisades, Palm Desert, Park City, Scottsdale, Sherman Oaks, Turks and Caicos, Los Cabos, Punta de Mita and elsewhere. Umansky, Billy Rose and Blair Chang founded the Agency in 2011. The company has been expanding since then, hiring new agents and opening in major markets. It now has nearly 500 agents.
In Boca Raton, the two-story, 6,700-square-foot office will include the Agency Development Group and the Agency Creates, its creative division. Franciosa and Ringel said they expect to have about 20 agents when it opens, but that number is changing every day. They joined the Agency from Douglas Elliman, and have sold more than $100 million of real estate in their careers.
The company is handling sales and marketing for two new development projects: 333 Victoria Park in Fort Lauderdale and the Andaz Turks & Caicos.
In South Florida, the Agency is looking to compete with other high-end brokerages like One Sotheby’s International Realty, which just acquired Nestler Poletto Sotheby’s International Realty in Boca and Delray Beach; as well as compete with the Keyes Company and Lang Realty.
Franciosa declined to say when the Agency will open a second South Florida office, but said that it will “spread into Broward and Miami-Dade very quickly.” The brokerage was attracted to the “long-term stability” of Boca Raton.
“We think there’s a great opportunity in Palm Beach County for growth,” Franciosa added.
Mike Pappas, CEO of the Keyes Co., which acquired Palm Beach Gardens-based Illustrated Properties in 2016, said that while the brokerage industry is getting crowded in South Florida, “we still are a fragmented market that is consolidating.”
“Just as the L.A. market is very intense and competitive, so now is the South Florida market with all the major players, both local firms and firms outside of this market,” Pappas added.