Miami brokerage acquires philanthropic Sarasota real estate firm

A Sarasota-based real estate firm that donates a portion of its compensation for each transaction to a nonprofit chosen by its clients has been acquired by a Florida brokerage with 60 offices. Catalist Realty will now be known as The Catalist Group within The Keyes Company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Catalist Realty was founded in 2018 by broker-owner David Crawford, who is also the president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

“I started Catalist on the belief that every transaction should strengthen the community,” Crawford says in a statement. The firm has donated more than $350,000 to over 65 local nonprofits based on selections made by its clients, who are either buyers or sellers.

“Joining Keyes lets our team keep doing what we do best while gaining the resources, technology and reach to do even more for our clients and for the nonprofits we support," Crawford says.

The combined team will be based at 1630 Morrill St. in the cottage that has housed the six agents from Catalist. Keyes’ Sarasota office, which has nearly 70 associates, will relocate there from 1433 Main St., where it has been based since Keyes entered the Sarasota market in 2024.

While Catalist will gain access to partnerships, technology and tools through Keyes, the Miami-based brokerage will strengthen its presence in the Sarasota-Manatee and greater Tampa Bay area, the release states. Catalist also handles transactions in the Tampa/St. Petersburg market.

“When a company is built around giving back, you can feel it in how they treat their customers and their community,” Keyes President Christina Pappas says in the statement. “That’s what we saw in David and the Catalist team, and it’s what Keyes has stood for over the last century.”

The Keyes Company, which bills itself as Florida’s largest independent real estate brokerage, has operated since 1926. It has offices throughout eight counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Volusia, Sarasota and Lee. The Keyes Family of Cos. and its network of partner brokerages, which encompasses 4,000 associates and 60 offices, closed more than $9.6 billion in annual real estate sales and services in 2025.