Compass just closed on the acquisition of Aventura-based brokerage ICS Realty, adding 20 agents to its team.
The deal marks a shift north for Compass, which has expanded to about 200 agents since launching in Florida in 2015. A number of residential firms have made similar moves by acquiring brokerages in Aventura, including One Sotheby’s International Realty and the Keyes Company.
Compass, based in Florida out of its Miami Beach office, is keeping ICS Realty’s Aventura office at 2875 Northeast 191st Street open as Compass Aventura. ICS handled residential and commercial deals throughout South Florida and had agents from countries like Germany, Brazil, Venezuela, France, Argentina and Canada, according to a press release.
Last year, Compass hired Philip Freedman to lead its new development division, and in May it promoted Mercedes Saewitz to managing broker of the company’s Florida operations.
The five-year-old brokerage is now valued at more than $2 billion after the SoftBank Vision Fund agreed to invest $450 million in the company at the end of last year. Compass operates in 13 markets in the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Aspen. – Keith Larsen