Avison Young adds highly regarded real estate finance expert to capital markets group in growing New York City office

David Eyzenberg joins Avison Young as a Principal to expand the firm's investment banking services in the Tri-State market

NEW YORK CITY, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Arthur J. Mirante, II, Principal and Tri-State President of Avison Young, Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today the hiring of a key industry professional for the capital markets team in the company's New York City office.

Effective immediately, David Eyzenberg joins Avison Young as a Principal. His responsibilities will include raising capital and providing investment banking services to Avison Young's commercial real estate clients nationwide. Eyzenberg's focus will be on entity and asset recapitalization, financing debt and property acquisitions, as well as advising Canadian and domestic institutions on deploying capital into appropriate U.S. investment opportunities, with special regard to structured ground lease transactions.

"The addition of David to our team in New York significantly strengthens our capital markets services by expanding our investment banking expertise," comments Mirante. "David's expert knowledge of the intricacies of commercial real estate financing, coupled with his deep understanding of equity/joint venture structuring, provides us with a competitive advantage in providing the highest level of consulting services to our institutional and private equity clients in the areas of acquisitions, divestitures and recapitalizations."

Avison Young Principal Greg Kraut in New York adds: "This announcement marks another important step in our ongoing strategy to build a full-service platform in New York comprising the industry's best talent. David brings to Avison Young a tremendous reputation and strong relationships that, when coupled with his exceptional experience, make him a valuable and complementary member of our team."

Before joining Avison Young, Eyzenberg served as Managing Director and head of commercial real estate for NewOak Capital, a New York-based financial advisory firm, where he completed multiple property financing and commercial mortgage-backed securities/commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation valuation assignments.

Eyzenberg's tenure at NewOak followed the company's acquisition of Prodigious Capital Group, an investment banking practice that he founded and led in consummating more than $350 million in financing and advisory assignments. His representative transactions included obtaining $14 million of joint-venture equity for the purchase of a New York development site by a private owner, arranging a $28-million predevelopment bridge loan for a New York-based developer, and structuring a $17-million blanket mortgage on seven multi-state assets for a private family.

Eyzenberg also previously worked at Ramius Capital Group, an investment management firm, where he sourced, evaluated and structured more than $1.8 billion of debt and equity transactions nationwide encompassing all property sectors.

Eyzenberg began his career as a member of Merrill Lynch's Real Estate Planning and Transactions Group, where he provided financial analysis support for domestic and international land acquisition, sale/leaseback transactions, leasing and office renovation/purchase efforts.

"The collaborative nature of Avison Young's partnership structure, as well as the company's international platform, provide me with numerous advantages in executing business - specifically in regard to sourcing the proper capital for transactions," says Eyzenberg. "I am excited by the opportunity to leverage my years of experience advising clients on their financing and investment strategies to further grow the firm's capital markets practice."

Eyzenberg is a graduate of New York University, where he earned a Master's degree in real estate investment and finance and a Bachelor's degree in communications. He is President of the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate Alumni Board and a member of the Urban Land Institute, Mortgage Bankers Association, Young Mortgage Bankers Association, Real Estate Lenders Association, International Council of Shopping Centers and CoreNet.

Complementing his professional endeavors, Eyzenberg teaches graduate real estate finance studies in New York University's Masters of Science in Real Estate program, and has been a featured speaker at numerous industry conferences and events.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 31 offices and from 300 to more than 900 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S. The company announced the opening of its first office in New York City in April and has since made a number of significant new hires for the office as the firm executes on its growth strategy for the Tri-State market.

In February, Avison Young was named a winner of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies program for 2011, sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post and Queen's School of Business.

Founded in 1978, Avison Young is Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Avison Young is also the largest Canadian-owned, principal-managed commercial real estate brokerage firm in North America. Comprising more than 900 real estate professionals in 31 offices across Canada and the U.S., the full-service commercial real estate company provides value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and multi-residential properties.

•Editors/Reporters: please click on link to view and download photo of David Eyzenberg

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For further information/comment/photos:

New York Media Relations:
• Christa Segalini, Vice-President, Beckerman PR: (201) 465-8021

• Elliot Baum, Principal and Vice-President of Marketing, New York, Avison Young: (212) 729-7465

Avison Young Media Relations:
• Sherry Quan, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young:
  (604) 647-5098; cell: (604) 726-0959

• Arthur J. Mirante, II, Principal and Tri-State President, Avison Young: (212) 729-1896

• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: (312) 957-7610

• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: (416) 673-4028

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young is a winner of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies program for 2011, sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post and Queen's School of Business

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SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.