Brokerages in South Florida are increasing their agent numbers and making key hires as the real estate market remains active.
Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate has acquired Castelli Real Estate Services, an 80-agent firm based in Broward County. With this acquisition, Better Homes & Gardens now has a total of 250 agents in the area, according to information on Castelli’s website. The company, led by CEO Gene Whiddon III, plans to expand its Broward offices to include more than 500 agents. This move follows a trend of brokerages growing their presence in the county. Better Homes & Gardens is also among the brokerages being acquired by Compass as part of Compass’s $1.6 billion deal for Anywhere Real Estate.
One Sotheby’s International Realty has promoted Jennifer Leong to manager of development sales in Broward. Leong joined One Sotheby’s in 2021 and leads the Opulent Group. In her new position, she will focus on expanding the brokerage’s new development business in Broward.
Brown Harris Stevens announced new additions to its teams in South Miami and Miami Beach. New agents joining the South Miami office include Adriana Cifuentes, Christina Cagol, Jazmine Yancey, Juanita Gallego, Kia Kesser, and Yina Uriza. Christine Patruna and Ruslan Moncada have joined the Miami Beach office.
Architecture firm RSP hired Nicolas Pinzon as an associate principal for its Miami office. Pinzon will focus on mixed-use projects and large-scale developments. He previously spent 27 years at L35 Architects, where he was most recently a senior partner.
Grant Friedman has been named general manager of Palm House hotel in Palm Beach. Before this role, Friedman was a consultant with GIF Hospitality and served as vice president and general manager for Acqualina Resort and Residences from 2020 to 2023.
L+R Hotels purchased Palm House for $39.6 million in 2019; the company is owned by Ian and Richard Livingstone.
