Large land firms reel in recognition

Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders Real Estate and Eshenbaugh Land Co. have been ranked as “America's Best Brokerages” in a leading land-oriented real estate trade publication.

The Gulf Coast firms recognized by The Land Report were among 32 firms throughout the Southeast to receive the designation, according to the magazine's Summer 2016 issue.

In all, the publication, “The Magazine of the American Landowner,” listed 150 firms nationwide that deal primarily in raw, agricultural or forestland.

CBC Saunders, based in Lakeland and with an office in High Springs, has been part of the list for the past six years, beginning in 2011 — the first year of the annual compilation. Last year, the Lakeland-based brokerage generated $130 million in sales, and topped the $2 billion sales mark since its inception in 1996.

Through its affiliate, CBC Saunders Ralston Dantzler Realty, it also provides commercial real estate brokerage services.

Tampa-based Eshenbaugh Land, formed in 1992, generated between $50 million and $100 million in sales last year, according to the Land Report.