Phil Gutman stepped down as president of Brown Harris Stevens Miami and Mark Zilbert was named interim managing broker of the firm’s Miami Beach locations, The Real Deal has learned.
Gutman had been in that role at Brown Harris Stevens for nearly three years. He joined the company in 2017. He plans to return to new development sales and said he is considering multiple offers from other firms.
Gutman, who joined Brown Harris Stevens from Douglas Elliman, is also working with developers Ian Bruce Eichner and TSG Group on plans for a luxury condo tower in Brickell.
Zilbert will lead Brown Harris Stevens’ two Miami Beach offices with about 80 agents. He joined when he sold his company, Zilbert International Realty, to Brown Harris Stevens in 2015, marking Brown Harris Stevens’ expansion to the Miami area. It also operates in Palm Beach County. Bess Freedman, CEO of New York-based Brown Harris Stevens, will continue to oversee the South Florida region while they find a permanent replacement for Gutman.
Zilbert said it “just made sense on an interim basis for me to jump back in the saddle again,” as someone who led his own brokerage before it was acquired about six years ago.
Gutman said he parted ways with Brown Harris Stevens on good terms, and Brown Harris Stevens wished him well in a statement. While at the brokerage, he launched a sports and entertainment division led by Seth Cohen, a professional sports agent. Brown Harris Stevens now has four offices and more than 200 agents in Miami-Dade County, according to a press release.
Jeff Miller, a top producer at Brown Harris Stevens, left earlier this year for One Sotheby’s International Realty. Miller had his license with Zilbert since the start of his real estate career in 2006, and joined Brown Harris Stevens as a result of the Zilbert acquisition.