Realtor Jeff Lesley is keeping a Century 21 brand franchise in Wilmington by opening Century 21 Vanguard.

Lesley, who worked as an agent with Century 21 Sweyer & Associates for 11 years, and Greg Harrelson, brokerage owner and real estate coach, are partners in the new firm. They are joined by Jan Pitman and Brendon Payne, two other top-producing agents from The Harrelson Team.

After 35 years, Century 21 Sweyer & Associates officials announced in February that the locally owned company was joining Berkshire Hathaway to become Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolina Premier Properties.

For the new franchise, Lesley said he and his partners plan to add more Realtors to their roster, having already recruited six agents.

Harrelson, who has been a mentor to Lesley over the years, started his first Century 21 franchise in Myrtle Beach in 1999 along with his father, according to a news release.

“What began as a small father-son team turned into The Harrelson Team ... with over $1 billion in annual sales. Greg has been selling real estate for over 20 years and has helped more than 2,000 clients buy and sell homes in the Myrtle Beach area.”

Lesley said, “I'm jumping in with bigger fish, kind of in the same culture, mindset, business model. Our goal is to … instead of having 5,000 agents doing 5,000 deals, we run a company similar to Greg's where he had 200 agents do 4,000 deals last year.”

After earning his MBA from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Lesley became one of the top-producing individual agents in the area, according to the release. In 2020, he earned the Century 21 Grand Centurion Award for over $40 million in sales volume, the top award in the Century 21 system. “Currently, Jeff has completed almost 1,000 real estate transactions and over $190 million in sales volume,” the release stated. 

A grand opening and ribbon-cutting for Century 21 Vanguard will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at the firm’s new office, 220 Avondale Ave., Suite 103, off Oleander Drive.

According to the release, Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler will speak at the ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. The event will include a food truck, drinks, live music, limited swag bags, raffle prizes and entertainment, the release stated.