By Michael Pollick, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

SARASOTA – Re/Max Platinum Realty, in a push to sell luxury properties, has moved its St. Armands Circle office to larger quarters and is becoming a full-fledged company franchise.

The new office is on the ground floor at South Adams Drive and John Ringling Boulevard, in the heart of the shopping district. Its former office was a smaller, second-story walk-up.

“The idea is to further expand the Re/Max system in luxury marketing,” said Bryan Guentner, president and co-owner of Re/Max Platinum. “What better way to do that than to have a full-fledged office on St. Armands Circle?”

The moves are expected to provide the firm’s agents greater visibility in a high-traffic address, and to enhance the firm’s ability to score Longboat Key listings and agents, Guentner said.

“We figure we will get more agents from Sarasota who want the prime location of St. Armands Circle, and more agents from Longboat Key,” he said.

The St. Armands office is set up as part of the Re/Max Collection, the company’s answer to Coldwell Banker Previews. The Re/Max Collection focuses on the top 20 percent of homes in any given market.

Re/Max Platinum is now one of several brand franchises in the region.

The largest is Re/Max Alliance, headed by Peter Crowley.

“We all compete for the same business,” said Crowley, whose Re/Max Alliance has assimilated some other franchisees over the years to grow to its current level — eight offices and 280 agents. At that level, it is Southwest Florida’s third-largest residential brokerage, behind Coldwell Banker and Michael Saunders & Co.

Guentner and his wife, Cheri, were a team within the Re/Max Alliance Group until 2006, when they broke off to form their own office. Today, their firm encompasses five offices and 50 agents.

Re/Max Platinum’s corporate office is in Osprey, with others in high-traffic areas such as St. Armands, the island of Venice, downtown Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch.

Based in Denver, Colo., Re/Max was founded in 1973 and is one of the world’s leading real estate franchisors.