Former Hoops Star Named Partner at Beverly Hills Firm

Marco Salari has worked at Coldwell Banker for five years. He was recently named partner in the Beverly Hills-based boutique firm helmed by Brent Watson. The group renamed itself Watson Salari Real Estate Group this month.

Salari will serve as a broker for the Coldwell Banker-affiliated firm, which has a focus on enclaves in Beverly Hills, Sunset Strip and Hancock Park.

The Watson-Salari duo worked together in the past on notable deals. In November, Watson and Salari represented Italian fashion star Brunello Cucinelli for the designer’s purchase of a $5 million Hollywood Hills home. The boutique firm also does commercial work. In June, they represented Marian Goodman Gallery when it leased a 12,000-square-foot space in Hollywood.

Before working in real estate, Salari was a professional basketball player in Italy and was on the roster for that country’s national basketball team from 2014 to 2016. Salari said sports was a good preparation for real estate.

“In my role as a point guard, you have to read the situation before everyone else. You have to be disciplined and deliver under pressure. You can’t give up if you lose a game,” Salari said.

➤Drew and Susan Gitlin have moved to Coldwell Banker Realty after working with Berkshire Hathaway for 20 years. The Gitlins will be based at Coldwell Banker’s Brentwood office.

The couple were ranked on Real Trends’ 2021 Small Teams by Volume listing, based on 2020 sales volume. According to the list, the Gitlins made more than $85 million in 2020. The Gitlins made a splash in 2019 when they were among the listing agents in the sale of the $150 million Chartwell Estate, a Bel Air mansion which was sold to Lachlan Murdoch by the estate of late Spanish-language television tycoon Jerry Perenchio.

➤Luxury agent Aaron Kirman made headlines in November when his firm Aaron Kirman Group made the jump to Christie’s from Compass. Recently, it was announced that Trent Luxury, helmed by former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Morgan Trent, also would change affiliations from Compass to Christie’s.

One of Trent’s major recent deals took place in October when he represented Russell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Lakers in the basketball player’s purchase of a $37 million home in Brentwood.

➤Michelle Montany joined Eklund|Gomes and she will serve as a director of sales at luxury condo building 8899 Beverly. A condominium sold at the West Hollywood area building for $10.6 million. Montany worked in sales for Pendry Residences West Hollywood from 2019 to January 2023. During her time at the hotel-branded residence, she worked on the sale of a $22 million penthouse. The transaction holds the record as the most expensive condo deal in the L.A. market in 2022.

➤Bob Rubinstein joined Douglas Elliman and will work out of the brokerage’s Malibu office. Other agents who recently hopped aboard Elliman include Desiree Walker and Adam Renteria, both of whom will work in the brokerage’s Newport Beach office. Aaron Gallegher also recently joined Douglas Elliman and will work in the brokerage’s Beverly Hills office.