Compass opened an office in Delray Beach, its second move in Palm Beach County this month.
The Delray Beach office is the brokerage’s latest bid to expand across the county, where it also has offices in Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach. Earlier this month, the brokerage upsized its Palm Beach office to a 3,400-square-foot space on Worth Avenue, after inking a 10-year lease.
For the Delray Beach office, Compass signed a four-year lease for the space at 102 Northeast First Avenue, agent Alex Platt confirmed. Platt and his wife, Margot Platt, are leading the office, with 16 agents on their Platt Group team. They previously worked out of Compass’ Boca Raton office.
When the Platts moved to Compass almost five years ago, they asked if the brokerage had plans to open a Delray Beach office, according to Alex Platt. The answer was yes, but getting settled into Boca Raton and Palm Beach were higher priorities for Compass, he said.
Last year, seeing growing demand in Delray Beach, the Platts proposed taking charge of opening the office themselves.
“Let’s see if [Compass] will give us their blessing,” Alex Platt said.
After receiving said blessing, it took another four months to find the right spot. Compass is among the throngs of brokerages elbowing for turf in the Palm Beach County market. Price growth surged in the county after the pandemic hit, and record sales have continued even as the pace of deals has slowed.
Other brokerages moving into the county include Cervera Real Estate, a waterfront condo sales powerhouse in Miami, which is set to open offices in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach next month. Serhant and the Agency also opened Palm Beach County offices last year.
“For Palm Beach County, our goal overall is to ensure that we’re in all the major hubs,” Compass Regional Vice President for Florida Jeff Polashuk previously told The Real Deal.
These ambitions for Palm Beach County follow a tough few years at Compass. It reached cash flow positivity for the first time in its history in the second and third quarters of 2023, but reported it was unlikely to maintain that. In December, the brokerage’s CEO Robert Reffkin traded a $25 million performance-based restricted stock award for a $7 million cash bonus, shortly after eliminating the chief operating officer role.