Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 A P R I L 5 , 2 0 2 1 B I Z M O N E Y Portside continues its southward push with New Hampshire office B y M a u r e e n M i l l i k e n Portsmouth, N.H. — Portside Real Estate Group, which in 2019 expanded to York County, has opened its first out-of-state office, opening an office here. The office, at 155 Fleet St., will be led by Adam Dean, who comes to Portside after nearly two decades with Bean Group. Dean, who began his real estate career 17 years ago as Bean Group's first hire, said the Seacoast region is "hungry for something fresh." He expects Por tside to have as strong a presence in New Hampshire as it does in Maine, with eventually up to 75 or 80 agents in southeast New Hampshire, spread down the coast and inland into the Exeter and Salem areas. The expansion to downtown Portsmouth "just made sense," Dava Davin, Portside founder and principal, told Mainebiz. Once the Portside Kennebunk office opened at the end of 2019, bringing more of a focus to York County, business started spreading farther, into New Hampshire, she said. Agents familiar with the territory and licensed to do business in the Granite State will build on that. Portside, which Davin opened in 2012, recorded $635 million in sales in 2020. The firm had $40 mil- lion in sales its first year. In addition to Portsmouth and Kennbunk, Portside has offices in Portland, Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth. The firm has 100 full-time agents and 12 staff. Portside brings ''the whole package' Davin marveled at how downtown Portsmouth has evolved, with a growing food, retail and arts energy. Dean is already tapped into the marketplace. "It's so important to have a local leader" who's familiar with the regional real estate industry, she told Mainebiz. In recent years, Dean has managed a Bean Group team of more than 700 agents across four states, and is a licensed broker in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. He joined Por tside after 17 years with Bean because he believes Portside will fill a gap in New Hampshire's Seacoast region. Dean said the New Hampshire market, like Maine's, is booming. It also has the same issues with lack of inventory and pockets with unreliable broadband. "Every segment of the market is stretched, with lack of inventory and a massive amount of buyers," he said. There are national agencies and small boutique brokers, but no local agency with the reach and energy of Portside, he said. "I was watching the growth [of Portside] over the years, and seeing where Dava was taking it," he said. "We don't have a company that brings the whole package." P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y P O R T S I D E Adam Dean and Dava Davin, of Portside Real Estate Group, talk outside the agency's new Portsmouth, N.H., office. Portside now has six offices from Yarmouth to Portsmouth, N.H.

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