Coldwell real estate agents form new brokerage

A husband-and-wife real estate duo exited Coldwell Banker Vanguard, Realtors to start a new venture.

Art and Alisa Maxwell on May 15 opened AMax Real Estate, which lists commercial and residential real estate, with a large emphasis on the latter.

“I’ve always wanted to start my own company,” Art Maxwell said. “It all worked out well and here we are.”

Maxwell said AMax — named after the owners’ first initials and an abbreviated form of their last name — has since added more than 45 real estate agents, most of whom came from Coldwell Banker. He said Judy Huntsman, the local president of Coldwell Banker, is retiring, but declined to speak further about his former employer. Huntsman declined comment through a spokesman.

Coldwell Banker in 2017 ranked No. 4 on Springfield Business Journal’s list of the area’s largest residential real estate firms. At the time, the company reported 68 active licensed residential agents and 2016 gross residential sales of $246 million. Coldwell Banker officials did not respond to SBJ’s survey in 2018.

At AMax, Maxwell said its brokers have 72 active listings and another 60 under contract to be listed. The company’s main office is at 1324 E. Kingsley St. and another location at 909 E. Republic Road, Ste. B200, is in the process of opening. He declined to disclose lease terms for the 9,000 square feet between the two buildings.

A Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled tomorrow at the Kingsley Street office.