UPDATED, Aug. 3, 4:58 p.m.: Compass is going after a bigger chunk of the real estate market: commercial brokerage.
The venture-backed firm, which has upended the residential world since launching in 2012, is launching Compass Commercial, the firm announced Friday. The new division will focus on investment sales nationwide, the company said.
Like it did on the residential side, the New York-based firm is launching the new division by going after big fish.
In New York, Compass said it hired Adelaide Polsinelli and Ronda Rogovin — formerly of Eastern Consolidated — to join the up-and-coming division. They joined the company on August 2, the company said.
Polsinelli was among the 100 brokers who became free agents after Eastern Consolidated shuttered in June.
Polsinelli began her career in 1985 and specializes in retail investment sales and commercial condos. She was the buy and sell-side broker on the $107 million sale of 18 Williamsburg buildings to L3 Capital and ASB Real Estate Investments in 2016.
The commercial division is the latest iteration of Compass’ aggressive growth since SoftBank invested $450 million in late 2017, a deal that valued Compass at $2.2 billion.
On the residential front, Compass has been acquiring firms in new markets in its quest to capture 20 percent market share in 20 U.S. cities by 2020. Earlier this month, the firm also said it would begin licensing its technology to boutique firms in non-core markets, although its first deal fell apart after a few days.
In the announcement, Compass cited its recent acquisition of Paragon Real Estate Group in San Francisco, a 225-agent firm that closed $2.3 billion in sales last year.
Paragon CEO Bob Dadurka, who said Compass reached out earlier this spring to explore a possible deal, said the new commercial division factored into his decision.
“Part of our decision to merge with Compass,” he said in a statement, “was the resources they offered.”