Heading north: Compass opens offices in Broward, Palm Beach counties
New Palm Beach Gardens and Weston sites will serve more than 220 existing agents
Compass is expanding with two new offices in South Florida, adding to the trend of brokerages expanding northward.
The brokerage is opening offices in Weston and Palm Beach Gardens to house more than 220 agents servicing Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to a press release. The move aims to solidify the firm’s footing in these markets, which have become magnets for brokerages in recent months.
As part of the expansion, Compass brought in Tricia Luther to lead the Weston office alongside Maria Gonzalez. Prior to joining Compass, Luther spent seven years with Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors, LinkedIn shows.
The Weston office at 2500 Weston Road Suite 404 will house 46 agents, focusing on the western Broward County markets, a spokesperson confirmed.
Compass’ Sara Collette, who also helped establish the brokerage’s Fort Lauderdale office five years ago, will lead the Palm Beach Gardens office in the newly opened Alton Town Center at 5370 Donald Ross Road. The office will serve more than 175 agents, and Collette confirmed the brokerage has plans to expand the team.
The brokerage is considering the Palm Beach Gardens site as a Jupiter office, because of the close proximity to the Jupiter market, Colette said. It will serve Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Tequesta and other northern Palm Beach County markets, she confirmed.
The first team of agents serving Jupiter for Compass began working out of a small satellite office five years ago, Collette said. Collette said the Palm Beach Gardens office has been in the works for more than two years.
“We slowly started expanding here, and [in] 2019 the growth just exploded,” Collette said. “We waited until we got the green light to open our own office.”
Compass’ Palm Beach Gardens office nabbed two teams from Illustrated Properties in advance of the opening. Christina Zecca and the Zecca Group spent five years at Illustrated before joining Compass in the new office, and John Forgatch and the Forgatch Group were with Illustrated for three years before jumping to Compass, LinkedIn shows.
Across the tri-county region, Compass has 14 offices. The expansions to Weston and Palm Beach Gardens follow in the footsteps of their competitors.
Douglas Elliman opened two offices in Weston in February. At the time, Douglas Elliman Florida CEO Jay Phillip Parker called the market, “a very important area for us.”
The Agency returned to Palm Beach County with the opening of its Palm Beach Gardens office in January. Corcoran opened an office in Palm Beach Gardens in August, aiming to have between 30 and 40 agents serving the market.
The pandemic fueled a boom in demand for South Florida luxury real estate, sending prices to unprecedented heights. The market has cooled in recent months, as sales volume has declined, but Collette sees prices holding.
Low inventory in the luxury market is causing a selling gridlock, she said, and agents may need to “shake the trees” to free up options.