The Agency is opening an office in Fort Lauderdale, marking its latest expansion in South Florida in recent years, The Real Deal has learned.
The brokerage already had Fort Lauderdale’s priciest listing, with agent Rick Teed representing the waterfront mansion at 733 Middle River Drive, asking $47.9 million. The owner is medical center mogul Anthony Degradi, who bought the mansion for $29.5 million last year.
The Agency managing partner Santiago Arana said landing that listing shows luxury clients and agents want the brokerage to be in Fort Lauderdale, but the expansion won’t stop there.
“We definitely want more presence in Florida,” he said, noting that the firm is also eyeing offices in Jupiter, Coral Gables and the Miami Design District.
The Agency’s Fort Lauderdale office marks its fifth in Florida, including Miami, Palm Beach, Naples and Orlando. The Fort Lauderdale office is at 901 East Las Olas Boulevard, and will be helmed by Howard Elfman, according to a press release. The office currently has 10 agents, including Steven Seigel, who founded the Fort Lauderdale-based Luxury Team.
Arana and the Agency’s founder and CEO Mauricio Umansky are partners owning the Fort Lauderdale office, Arana confirmed. The move follows more than a year after they opened an office in Palm Beach, and follows a trend of South Florida brokerages expanding into Broward County. Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune Christie’s International Real Estate opened a Fort Lauderdale office last year, and Compass and Douglas Elliman both opened offices in the nearby suburb, Weston.
Price growth has surged across the tri-county region in recent years, drawing the attention of brokers and brokerages alike. Broward County, where prices have traditionally lagged behind Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, is making headway in the ultra-luxury sector.
In September, financier Donald Sussman sold his waterfront Fort Lauderdale mansion for $70 million, shattering the previous $40 million price record set last year.