One Sotheby’s International Acquires Podium Realty Group

One Sotheby’s International Realty acquired another brokerage, in a bid for a slice of the Brazilian buyer pool.

One Sotheby’s, led by mother-son duo Mayi and Daniel de la Vega, acquired Podium Realty Group, Daniel de la Vega confirmed. Cassio Galiza and Alex Wolak’s Miami-based luxury residential brokerage will become the Podium Group at One Sotheby’s, working at the brokerage’s 800 Brickell Avenue office in Miami.

Galiza and Wolak are bringing a team of 25 agents that close more than $100 million in sales annually, according to a spokesperson and a press release.

One Sotheby’s has been in an aggressive growth mode for the past year. In June, the brokerage picked up two firms, one in Brevard County and one in Vero Beach. Keeping an eye on the softening market, de la Vega told The Real Deal in March that One Sotheby’s was holding off on acquisitions.

“We’re waiting till Q3, Q4 of this year,” he said. “Unless something is remarkably opportunistic.”

And that’s what the Podium acquisition was, according to de la Vega. “We’re not necessarily in acquisition mode yet. We’re just looking for strategic partners right now,” he said on Friday, noting that this deal moved more quickly than anticipated.

“We had been talking for quite some time,” de la Vega said, adding that Wolak’s wife, Viviane Wolak, was already an agent with One Sotheby’s in Aventura.

De la Vega said Podium’s primary draw was its Brazilian connections. He anticipates Brazilian buyers returning to South Florida in force.

“We’re seeing some incredible opportunity in Brazil for the first time in a long time,” he said. De la Vega credits the return of buyers to Brazil’s booming agricultural sector. He also anticipates this wave of Brazilian deals will include many buyers making South Florida their full-time home, similar to the pandemic migration of Northeasterners into the region.

One Sotheby’s acquisition follows a trend of brokerage expansions in South Florida. While de la Vega’s firm doubled down on its Miami presence with this move, other firms like Douglas Elliman, Compass, Keller Williams and the Agency have made moves northward into Broward and Palm Beach counties. 

Ryan Serhant also plans to add offices in South Florida.