Compass takes on Atlanta in march toward national market share

Compass is taking a bite out of the Peach State.

The New York-based brokerage announced Thursday that it’s launching an office in Atlanta — the latest city it’s encountered in its march toward national market share.

In a statement, Compass said it hired 13 full-time employees in Atlanta, where it will open additional offices in Buckhead and Midtown. So far, Compass has recruited two well-known agents: Jim Getzinger, who sold $70 million in 2017, and Jere Metcalf, whose team closed $37 million in sales over the past 12 months. Both were previously associated with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty.

Compass, which was founded in 2012, is valued at $2.2 billion following Softbank’s $450 million investment last year. The venture capital-backed firm has since accelerated its plan to attain 20 percent market share in 20 U.S. cities by 2020.

The brokerage currently has more than 90 offices in 16 cities with 4,500 agents to date. By the end of the year, it is targeting another three cities. It’s also planning to add 30 offices in existing markets.

Earlier this week, Compass announced a merger with Seattle-based Avenue Properties, whose 100 agents did $1 billion in sales last year, according to local news reports. In July, Compass acquired Paragon, a 225-agent firm in San Francisco with $2.3 billion in 2017 sales. Compass plans to draw on Paragon’s experience to grow its commercial brokerage division, which it launched with two hires in New York earlier this month. The firm brought on former Eastern Consolidated brokers Adelaide Polsinelli and Ronda Rogovin in New York.