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Stephen Frater
Premier Properties delays debut until October
Before even opening their doors, Naples-based newcomer Premier Properties has decided the Sarasota market is so compelling that they are looking to expand in two directions simultaneously.
They want to enlarge their downtown office by 50 percent to 6,000 square feet and are negotiating for another office as well.
The opening of the "signature" Premier Properties Sarasota office once scheduled for mid-July has been pushed back to mid-October, says Steve Bailey, vice president and regional manager.
Bailey, formerly No. 2 at Michael Saunders & Co., has a law degree from Tulane University and served in the Army in Vietnam. He's busily hiring 12 to 15 Realtors to staff Premier's 4,000-square-foot office at the chic Plaza at Five Points building.
"It's a landmark location," says Bailey, adding that the build-out of the new space will be at an "extremely high level of finish," with a focus on providing the latest, state-of-the-art technology and resources.
"Because of the commitments received to date from prospective sales associates, we are in the process of trying to sublet another 2,000 square feet at the Plaza."
In addition, Bailey is in "preliminary negotiations for a second location to service our market area."
The plan is to develop a "critical mass of well-positioned offices to service the high-end client" and to leverage the existing infrastructure of Premier's Naples offices, with its 225 residential sales associates and developer services division.
Cannon named sales manager for Wetherington
No, not that Cannon.
Matt Cannon has been named sales manager for Lee Wetherington Cos. He fills the spot left open when Michelle Burke-Phillips joined Sky Sotheby's International Realty a few weeks ago.
Cannon oversees all sales operations for Lee Wetherington Homes, the home building division of Lee Wetherington Cos., and represents Lee Wetherington Realty as its principal broker.
"Matt has been an outstanding performer with us. We know he'll provide strong leadership for our sales team," Lee Wetherington said in a statement.
Cannon reports to Bill Hager, the company's chief executive officer.
Cannon joined the Sarasota-based builder last fall, bringing 11 years of sales and marketing experience.
He had an award-winning career with Cannon Real Estate in Marion, Ind., where he was a principal and managing broker.
He ranked first for Marion's Area Board of Realtors, also serving as president, director and vice president of that board, where he was also once named "Realtor of the Year."
He moved to Sarasota in late 2004 and worked in Saunders' New Homes Sales Division before joining Wetherington.
Cannon had been teamed with Wetherington sales associate Glenda Quinn in The Country Club at Lakewood Ranch and also at The Lake Club, where they closed $20.7 million in sales last year, reaching the Platinum Level for teams at the Million-Dollar Circle Awards.
Cannon has a bachelor's degree in management and finance from Purdue University and a master's of business administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Lee Wetherington Cos. offers homes in several Sarasota and Manatee county communities at prices from the $440,000s to more than $1 million.
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