I am excited to announce my new position with Royal Shell Real Estate and the opening of two new offices. This story appeared in the Business Secton of the News-Press on Monday 11/22/10.
Royal Shell Real Estate is expanding its reach beyond the barrier islands as it strives to establish a resort rental and real estate sales brand throughout Southwest Florida.
The low-profile company was founded in 2006 on Sanibel, part of a family of affiliated companies founded by the Roberts family based in Wilmington, Ohio.
Until now Royal Shell has operated primarily on Sanibel and Captiva but managing broker Don DeLuca said that's changing fast:
- The company is forming an alliance with Fort Myers-based real estate brokerage Denny Grimes & Co. to bring Royal Shell into that market, starting in early December. Grimes will continue to operate at its Fort Myers location under the Royal Shell brand.
- Michael Polly, formerly vice president of Denny Grimes & Co., is now vice president of real estate operations for Royal Shell, responsible for operations, recruiting and business development.
- Royal Shell has purchased the old Congress Jewelers building on Fifth Avenue in Naples and will be operating in that market as well.
The company's strategy is to go regional with its Sanibel/Captiva business plan, managing broker Don DeLuca said: playing on the natural connections between resort rental and home sales.
"What I've seen down here is you have a lot of different companies that are segregated and individually owned and operated but nobody with a concerted effort to do it under one roof," he said. "From Naples to Fort Myers and the islands, there's a nice area that's connected, and that's Southwest Florida."
This was the plan all along, DeLuca said. "It's a vision we've had from the get-go."
Grimes, a longtime broker in Lee County and presenter at the annual News-Press Market Watch, said he's looking forward to shedding the responsibilities of management and "getting back into the role of listing and selling real estate, which are really my core competencies."
DeLuca said Royal Shell started operating recently in Naples without fanfare and already has $50 million in listings plus six or seven homes under contract.
For questions please email me michael.polly@royalshellsales.com
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