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Two of the top broker-owners located on Florida’s Emerald Coast have shed their former affiliations to join Christie’s International Real Estate, the firm has informed Inman.
Beau Blankenship, formerly of Engel & Völkers 30A Beaches, and Jacob Watkins, formerly of Corcoran Reverie, are teaming up to found a new flagship location in northwest Florida called Christie’s International Real Estate Emerald Coast.
Beau Blankenship | Blankenship Watkins Advisory Group
“Their tech platform, their luxury brand and just [all] they do I feel is a level up and is going to help us in our market,” Blankenship told Inman. “I think the Christie’s brand is synonymous with luxury and the auction house and everything — it is just a really, really good brand that spoke to us. And then their tech stack is phenomenal. So those two [paired] together just made for a very good partnership.”
At his previous firm, Blankenship led the Blankenship Group, the No. 1 team in Walton County. Engel & Völkers 30A Beaches in 2024, while owned by Blankenship, was also ranked the No. 4 Engel & Völkers affiliate across the country by RealTrends with $558.5 million in sales volume across 393 sides. Blankenship alone has closed more than $3 billion in career sales, a small feat given that he formally launched his real estate career in 2018 at the age of 27.
Watkins worked as an Ernst & Young finance consultant before transitioning into real estate about 10 years ago. He launched a small firm, 30A Realty, which merged with Corcoran Reverie in 2020. In the less than five years that Watkins was affiliated with Corcoran Reverie, the firm closed about $4 billion in sales, about $870 million of which can be attributed to a team Watkins was on.
Jacob Watkins | Blankenship Watkins Advisory Group
Together, Blankenship and Watkins will co-lead the new affiliate as equal partners. The company’s major markets will include neighborhoods stretching from Destin to Panama City, including Santa Rosa Beach, Rosemary Beach, Seaside and Alys Beach, and will start off with around 130 agents.
The duo have also created a large team called the Blankenship Watkins Advisory Group, which is launching with a portfolio of more than $265 million in listings.
The timing of Blankenship’s reaching out to Wong was perfect, the CEO said, as a contract the company had with a previous affiliate on the Emerald Coast was expiring. He also knew of Blankenship’s reputation as a top-performer in the market.
“So when Beau called, it was just a fantastic surprise, because if you were to ask me prior to him reaching out, if I would have had one person to fly the Christie’s flag, it would have been Beau,” Wong told Inman. “And adding Jacob to it is huge, considering the number of deals they’ve done over $10 million there.”
Thad Wong | Christie’s International Real Estate
Together, Blankenship and Watkins have closed 21 transactions above $10 million. They are currently marketing the highest-priced listing in northwest Florida, which is asking $26.5 million.
Blankenship said that he and Watkins had been friends for the last decade, getting to know one another as fellow top-performers and business owners in the same market, and eventually vacationing together since they both have young families.
Luxury buyers for secondary and primary residences have significantly grown in the 30A region over the last several years, making it an attractive market for Christie’s International Real Estate, as well as the auction house. While still remaining a relatively under-the-radar destination within Florida, out-of-state buyers have been historically attracted from locales like Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans, but a growing number are coming from the Midwest, Northeast and elsewhere, according to Watkins.
Wong said growing demand is also raising prices in the area.
“Over the past five or 10 years, you’ve seen a lot more people purchase full-time and part-time residences there where they’re pushing the price up significantly,” Wong told Inman. “And these two guys effectively own the luxury market there. For Christie’s International Real Estate, this location, especially also for the auction house, because you have … so many different [people from different] regions that own here, for the auction house, having an affiliate here that had a significant amount of experience in the high-end range of homes was important.”
“We’re finally attaching in that region the Christie’s International Real Estate flag with the two highest performing luxury agents,” Wong added. “So I think that inevitably trickles down to the rest of the company. With adding Jacob [Watkins in addition to Blankenship], we’re going to really see a really strong showing when it comes to the luxury sector in that market.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that Beau Blankenship would be majority owner of Christie’s International Real Estate Emerald Coast, however, Blankenship and Jacob Watkins are leading the firm as equal partners. Watkins also did not close $1 billion while at Corcoran Reverie, as previously stated.
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