Compass Expands to Chicago's South Side With Town Group

Compass is moving south.

The brokerage giant, which has aggressively consolidated market share across Chicago’s North Side and suburbs over the last few years, is partnering with a top independent firm in Beverly and Morgan Park to debut its first office on the South Side of Chicago.

The seven-agent Town Group — formerly known as Town Realty Chicago — is joining Compass and bringing its Morgan Park-based brick-and-mortar shop at 10938 South Western Avenue along with it, according to a Compass press release. The office will be Compass’ first location south of River North.

The team will remain independently owned, lead agent Meg Mulrenin said, while working under the Compass brand. The team will work under Compass’ managing broker Andy Shiparski.

Mulrenin said joining Compass was the next step for the growth of her team, which she and her business partner Matt McGinnis founded in 2020. Town Realty closed $30 million in sales in 2024 and is on track for $20 million in sales in 2025, Mulrenin said. That volume puts it among the top brokerages in both Morgan Park and Beverly, she said.

Mulrenin had received pitches to join other brokerages before, she said, and she usually brushed them off. She initially did the same to Compass, but after sitting down with the team, she said she was impressed.

“I really wasn’t seeking out a partnership with anybody,” she said. “Compass found me, and the opportunity fell in my lap and made a ton of sense. We’ve done really well in the last five years capturing our little market here. I feel like we’ve grown it as far as we can with the resources available to us.”

Mulrenin has deep ties in the far south neighborhoods, where she was born and raised. Her team’s “Town” moniker is a nod to her family, which owned Town Liquors in the neighborhood for almost 40 years.

“Everyone calls us the ‘Town family,'” Mulrenin said. “We’ve had a really strong presence in this community for decades.”

While The Town Group is remaining independently owned, the move highlights the pressure for independent brokerages to keep up in a business dominated by large national companies. Compass finalized its purchase of Chicago-based @properties Christie’s International Real Estate at the beginning of this year, adding the city’s largest brokerage to its portfolio. Compass’ move to buy Anywhere Real Estate will bring more of Chicago’s top firms under its umbrella.

Compass’ tech platform and office-exclusive marketing strategy, which have drawn criticism from competitors and websites like Zillow, were part of what drew the team to Compass, Mulrenin said. She said she’s interested in growing the team going forward.

“I think Compass will be a huge draw to get the people that we have wanted to come on board,” Mulrenin said. “It’s going to help us court more talent.”

Mulrenin began her real estate career in 2011 at @properties. She worked for Coldwell Banker and another small firm in Beverly before starting her own firm in 2020.