Beverly Hills-based brokerage, The Agency, has joined forces with respected Douglas Elliman veteran agents Chris Franciosa and Jared Ringel to open the brokerage’s first South Florida office in the wealthy enclave of Boca Raton in Palm Beach County.
Franciosa and Ringel have together sold more than $100 million of new development and resale homes in their careers. They will quickly have around 20 agents, though The Real Deal reports that the number is changing daily, in The Agency’s 25th office outside of its home base in Beverly Hills, which is set to open in mid-November.
Jared Ringel
“We feel that Boca Raton is a great place for The Agency to have its first South Florida office for a number of reasons. The market in Palm Beach County, specifically Boca Raton and Delray Beach are not as susceptible to the same market swings as those in Miami-Dade,” Ringel said in an email to Inman.
Howard Elfman, East Fort Lauderdale broker, formerly with Distinctive Homes Realty and a district vice president of Florida Realtors, will be the office’s managing broker. He is also vice chair of the Fort Lauderdale planning and zoning board.
The Agency’s new development division, The Agency Development Group (TADG) and PR and marketing arm, The Agency Creates, will also be setting up shop in the South Florida market based at the Boca Raton location.
Mauricio Umansky
“We are proud to represent some of the most prestigious projects around the world, in South Florida and The Caribbean, and we look forward to adding many more to our fast-growing new development portfolio as we continue our expansion,” said CEO and founder of The Agency, Mauricio Umansky in a press statement. He flagged the company’s expansion to South Florida to Inman in July this year.
“Billy and I have always wanted to bring The Agency to South Florida, and we have found the right partners with Chris Franciosa and Jared Ringel to enter this market,” Umansky said this week.
Chris Franciosa
The Agency is the most exciting brokerage firm in the country, Franciosa said.
“We are looking forward to applying the company’s exciting approach to the industry in South Florida,” Franciosa said in a prepared statement. “Jared and I have long admired Mauricio, Billy and The Agency and we are honored to be further growing the brand on the East Coast.”
The market has a diverse range of homeowners, including New York investors, retirees from around the country and young people wanting to start families in the community, Ringel said.
The Agency will be up against brokerages including Douglas Elliman, the Keyes Company and the expanding One Sotheby’s International Realty, noted The Real Deal.
“We have a number of great-producing agents joining us in Boca and many more forthcoming in the other South Florida markets. So we certainly feel we will be a disruption to the market and our sales will be a direct reflection of those agents and how our creative team can help boost the already successful business they have,” Ringel said.
The Agency is giving its Boca Raton team freedom to expand to nearby Broward and Miami-Dade counties in the coming months.
Now with over 500 agents, the California-based brokerage has added offices in Park City, Utah; Pasadena, California; and Malibu, California this year.
