Fortune Christie’s International Real Estate is expanding to Fort Lauderdale with the acquisition of an eight-agent brokerage.
Fortune Christie’s, led by Edgardo Defortuna, acquired Tyler Tuchow’s Kensington & Company Real Estate, according to a press release. The Kensington office at 1038 East Las Olas Boulevard will be renovated and rebranded under the Fortune Christie’s banner, the release says. It marks Fortune Christie’s 21st office.
The move comes nearly a year after Defortuna announced his intention to move into Fort Lauderdale, as well as his plans for a new office in Boca Raton.
“No area in Broward County is off the table. Our immediate focus lies on expanding our presence in the eastern areas of Broward County,” he stated at the time.
In the months after Defortuna declared his interest in the market, a string of high-profile Fort Lauderdale luxury deals closed. Lionel Messi, one of the most famous celebrity athletes in the world and an Inter Miami forward, bought a waterfront mansion for $10.8 million in September. His teammates, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez, also dropped millions on Fort Lauderdale mansions.
Then in October, energy drink mogul Jack Owoc spent $40 million on an oceanfront mansion, marking a record price for residential sales in Broward County.
The median sale price in Fort Lauderdale is up 28 percent, year-over-year, to $730,000, according to Redfin. It is one of the markets in Broward and Palm Beach counties that brokerages are targeting as they eye northward expansion.
Following the yearslong real estate boom in South Florida, price growth and increased interest in Weston, Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter, firms like Compass, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran have boosted their presence in the markets.