Denver Bright is back at Douglas Elliman after a four-month stint at Compass, Bright told The Real Deal.
Bright left Elliman in April after two and a half years and returned in August as a director of luxury sales within the brokerage’s Sports & Entertainment Division.
“You always want to explore and see what’s out there. Their model is attractive. Their tech is appealing,” Bright told TRD. But, “I thought it would be in my clients’ best interest to be back with Douglas Elliman.”
Since Compass opened its South Florida branch in August of last year, the tech-oriented brokerage is up to 62 agents, Beth Butler told TRD. Butler, president of Compass Florida, said she plans to add agents in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach and expects to open up to two more offices by this time next year.
Butler called Bright “a great agent with a great future,” adding that Douglas Elliman made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Elliman’s sports and entertainment division, which officially launched last year, now has 31 agents across the country who focus on athletes and celebrities. Bright said his clientele also includes bankers and hedge funders from the Northeast. He focuses on waterfront condos and houses in Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach and downtown Miami.
“The fact that Denver was able to recognize contradictions to our core professional values within weeks of branching out to a competitor, is a testament to his character and loyalty to this company,” Jay Phillip Parker, CEO of Elliman Florida, said in a statement.
Other firms, like ONE Sotheby’s International Realty and Opulence International Realty, also have their own sports and entertainment divisions to lure celebrity clients.