Luxury residential brokerage One Sotheby's International Realty says it acquired a third-generation regional powerhouse on southeast Florida's Treasure Coast.
The brokerage it bought, Premier Realty Group, is headed by Jessica Bohner and has 25 agents who serve Martin County, Florida. The combined firm will be known in the area as The Premier Group of One Sotheby's International Realty. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Bohner's late paternal grandmother, Trude Neese, launched Premier in 1958, and her father, Stephen Bohner, bought it from her in the late 1980s. Jessica Bohner worked in finance in New York City before joining the firm in 2009, and she became broker-owner in 2019 after her father's death.
"Many of the Realtors at Premier remember me in diapers," said Bohner, 39, a Martin County native, in an interview.
In searching for potential partners, Bohner said she found some brokerages that wanted to minimize Premier rather than elevate it.
"It became clear Sotheby's was the best fit," she said. "My mom was really excited, and I think my dad would be very proud."
Sales increase in 2024
Premier generated more than $900 million in sales over the past five years. That included $175 million in sales in 2024, an 11% increase from 2023, according to One Sotheby's. Last year, Premier made a splash when it represented the buyer in Martin County's second-largest residential sale, $14.5 million.
Premier’s office, at 2 N. Sewall's Point Road in Stuart, Florida, will remain the firm's headquarters.
In recent years, Martin County's affordable housing has attracted middle-class consumers willing to commute south for jobs in neighboring Palm Beach County. Still, Martin has a sizable luxury market in such areas as Jupiter Island. As of the end of March, the median sale price in Jupiter Island was $19.3 million, up 78% from the same period of 2024, according to Homes.com data.
Last year, Miami-based One Sotheby's listed the Martin County home of the late billionaire businessman and one-time Miami Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga for $45 million. It has since lowered the price to $39 million, according to the listing on Homes.com.
The deal for Premier gives One Sotheby's "a leading position in the region — bringing together deep local roots with a global reach under the One Sotheby's banner," said Daniel de la Vega, brokerage president, in a statement.
In 2019, Bohner established the Premier Charitable Fund to which agents donate proceeds from commissions. The firm matches the contributions. Last year, Premier contributed more than $75,000 to local charities, and One Sotheby's has committed to maintaining the fund, Bohner said.
