Avison Young acquires Cresa NJ-North/Central, LLC, opens second office in New Jersey

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Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

Mar 06, 2017, 09:00 ET

Purchase bolsters firm's tenant representation business line in New Jersey;
Tom Giannone and Ron Ganter become Principals, seven members join

TORONTO, March 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today that it has acquired Rutherford, NJ-based Cresa NJ-North/Central, LLC (CNJ) and opened a second Avison Young office in New Jersey.

Founded in 2011, CNJ is a privately held real estate firm that specializes in corporate tenant representation. The company provides commercial real estate services to a wide variety of industries, including pharmaceutical, biotech, technology, telecommunications and financial services.

Effective immediately, CNJ is rebranded as Avison Young. This newest office represents Avison Young's 54th office in the U.S., and an additional step in the firm's ongoing aggressive growth and expansion strategy. The purchase further expands Avison Young's business-line coverage in New Jersey, with seven members joining from CNJ. Tom Giannone and Ron Ganter, formerly the managing principals of CNJ, become Principals of Avison Young with a mandate to help grow the firm's corporate tenant representation services throughout New Jersey.

"We're thrilled that Tom, Ron and their team are joining Avison Young, and pleased to be opening our second office in New Jersey," comments Rose. "The acquisition of CNJ further expands Avison Young's tenant representation advisory services, particularly in the life-science sector, for local, national and international businesses operating in New Jersey. With Tom and Ron, we are again adding highly regarded veteran commercial real estate professionals who are respected for their leadership, extensive industry experience and in-depth local market knowledge."

Rose continues: "We know that this team will fit seamlessly into our Principal-led, collaborative culture while providing a superior level of service to clients and business partners. By opening a new office that ties in the large New York and Philadelphia markets, we will open doors for our clients to many new opportunities throughout the U.S. and beyond."

Avison Young's second New Jersey office will be located in central New Jersey in the Metropark area.

"Ron and Tom are proven and experienced leaders who are partnership-minded," notes Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "This team consistently performs by exceeding client expectations and developing innovative solutions. They will help us deepen our presence in New Jersey and throughout the Tri-State region, and we couldn't be more excited to have them on board."

Also joining Avison Young from CNJ are: Edward English, Senior Vice-President; Elisabete Correia, Operations Manager; Steve Bleiweiss, Senior Vice-President; Scott Riehl, Vice-President; and Brian Featherstone, Advisor.

Brokers based in the new Metropark office will primarily focus on the north and central regions, including the Princeton market, of the Garden State.

Giannone and Ganter will work closely with Jeffrey Heller, a Principal of Avison Young and Managing Director of the firm's New Jersey region, who will oversee the day-to-day operations of the new Metropark office.

"I have known Tom and Ron for decades and have been impressed with their group's high level of professionalism and corresponding success," says Heller. "They are highly respected in the New Jersey real estate community and rank among New Jersey's top tenant rep brokers. At Avison Young, Tom and Ron, as well as Ed, will take a leadership role in Avison Young's tenant representation business in New Jersey and play critical roles in expanding our life-science business, mentoring mid-career professionals and recruiting top real estate talent."

Both Giannone and Ganter bring a combined 50 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young.

"We believe that the north/central New Jersey marketplace will be a springboard for Avison Young as our company attempts to leverage growing tenant representation opportunities," says Giannone. "As corporate real estate representatives, we will continue to focus on the tenant's side of the commercial real estate transaction, and be the best advocate for our clients while evaluating their long-term business goals and negotiating the most cost-effective real estate solutions."

Adds Ganter: "Our group is delighted to be joining Avison Young and operating under a strong brand with multiple links to the global market. We're looking forward to sharing our knowledge of the northern and central New Jersey marketplace with our new clients and business partners while continuing to provide a strong tenant representation platform for existing clients. We're also excited about the opportunity to tap into the expertise of our new colleagues across the U.S. and in Canada, Mexico, the U.K., and Germany."

Avison Young opened its first New Jersey office in September 2012 and has established a strong foothold in the state since then with more than 110 employees today.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young acquiring Atlanta-based Hotel Assets Group, LLC on Jan. 17, 2017.

Over the past eight years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 79 offices and from 300 to more than 2,400 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

Biographies

Tom Giannone
Tom Giannone brings more than 40 years of commercial real estate and engineering experience to Avison Young, most recently as a managing principal with CNJ since February 2011. He has focused on tenant representation and corporate services, specializing in technically complex facilities. Early in his career, he worked as a commercial real estate developer and garnered in-depth knowledge of landlord operations and how they correlate to tenant relationships. Since then, he has worked exclusively as a tenant representative, applying his knowledge of both sides of the industry to obtain optimal lease terms for occupiers of space. His transactional experience includes sale/leasebacks, build-to-suits, and purchase options to enhance value for clients. Giannone's notable clients have included Daiichi Sankyo Inc., Amicus Therapeutics, Purdue Pharma, Intellisphere, Advaxis Immunotherapies, Liquid Church, Marsh & McLennan and RightAnswers.

Prior to joining CNJ, Giannone spent seven years as a senior director with Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey, Inc., 10 years as a senior vice-president and branch manager with Studley, five years as a vice-president of asset management with DKM Properties, five years as general manager with Prudential Realty, and seven years in the engineering and construction sectors.

Giannone is actively involved with the New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) as co-chair of its CFO Peer Network, a limited partner in the NJTC's Venture Fund, and frequently serves as an event sponsor and speaker. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and economics from New York University, and Master's and Bachelor's degrees in civil engineering from Rutgers and Villanova, respectively.

Ron Ganter
Ron Ganter brings more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as a managing principal with CNJ in East Rutherford. During his real estate career, he has completed sale and lease transactions valued in excess of $900 million while working primarily as a tenant representation specialist. His experience includes financial accounting, debt procurement, management reporting, construction/job costing accounting, asset/property management, financial analysis, and risk management for major commercial real estate developers. He has provided leasing and consulting services to corporations such as Actavis, Alpharma, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo Inc., High Point Safety & Insurance Management Corp., Princeton Financial Systems, Prolong Pharmaceuticals, Purepac Pharmaceuticals and State Street Bank.

Prior to joining CNJ in 2011, Ganter served as senior director/transaction services at Cushman & Wakefield for six years and as corporate managing director at Studley, Inc. for eight years. Before making those moves, he held controller and director of finance positions with K. Hovnanian Investment Properties, Inc., and DKM Properties.

In addition to being a licensed real estate broker, Ganter is a New Jersey-licensed Certified Professional Accountant (CPA) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Old Dominion University.

Avison Young is the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 2,400 real estate professionals in 79 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality properties.

The matters discussed in this news release may include forward-looking statements, which could involve a number of risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words "will," "believes," "intends," "anticipates," "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. Except as expressly required by any applicable securities laws, Avison Young undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any of the forward-looking statements.

For further information/comment/photos:

Sherry Quan, Principal, Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; mobile: 604.726.0959
Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028
Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610
Jeffrey Heller, Principal & Managing Director, New Jersey, Avison Young: 973.753.1100
Tom Giannone, Principal, Avison Young: 201.712.4910
Ron Ganter, Principal, Avison Young: 201.712.4909

www.avisonyoung.com

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