Jennifer Hyland, John Hackett and Pamela Liebman with the new office at 2000 PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach (Corcoran, Getty)
The Corcoran Group is expanding its presence in Palm Beach County, opening an office in Palm Beach Gardens.
This is the fifth office in Palm Beach County for the New York-based brokerage, which also has offices in Delray Beach, Palm Beach, Hobe Sound, and West Palm Beach. John Hackett, Corcoran’s senior managing director of South Florida, is leading the new office at 2000 PGA Boulevard.
According to Corcoran, its sales in Palm Beach County totaled $3 billion last year.
So far, Diana Reed and Jennifer Hyland, leader of the Peters + Hyland Group, have moved from the Palm Beach office to the Palm Beach Gardens office. Hackett says Corcoran is “actively hiring” for the office and hopes to have between 30 and 40 agents licensed there.
Hyland joined the Palm Beach office last year, after 15 years with Illustrated Properties, where she primarily focused on Palm Beach Gardens.
“Palm Beach Gardens has been on the horizon for a long time,” Hackett said, “Jennifer Hyland probably accelerated that discussion.”
Corcoran’s expansion comes amid a cooling South Florida market and a looming recession, yet according to Hackett, market conditions are not dissuading the brokerage from further expansion.
“We’re very thoughtful about expansion,” he said, “but we’re looking for opportunities wherever we can.”
Palm Beach Gardens’ market has been heating up, as finance firms have moved to Palm Beach County, and demand for waterfront property has priced buyers out of Palm Beach. Brokers also say Palm Beach Garden has more infrastructure for younger families, including medical and educational institutions.
“So many of the buyers that reach out to me, they say they really want to be in North County,” Hyland said. North County includes Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, Jupiter, and Singer Island, areas Corcoran is targeting with this new office.
Recent Palm Beach Gardens sales have reached record prices. A mansion on a double lot in Old Palm Golf Club flipped for $22.5 million last month, shattering Old Palm’s last record of $15 million. In another recent sale, local developers bought a flipped 1.4-acre waterfront estate for $11 million. Broker Vince Marotta of Illustrated Properties said the buyers are re-listing it immediately for $13.9 million.
Palm Beach Gardens, a hub of golf activity thanks to the proximity of PGA National Resort, Trump National Golf Course, and the highly-exclusive Bear’s Club, has long attracted stars of the sport. In March, the former mansion of golf pro Lee Westwood sold for $12.2 million. In December, the son of renowned golfer and course designer Jack Nicklaus sold his waterfront Palm Beach Gardens estate for $6.2 million.
