Avison Young opens new office in Indianapolis
Fast-growing commercial real estate services firm opens 45th U.S. office;
Bill Ehret becomes Managing Director
TORONTO, March 12, 2015 /CNW/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today the opening of a newly formed office in Indianapolis.
The newest American office represents Avison Young's first office in Indiana, 45th office in the U.S., and an additional step in the firm's ongoing aggressive growth and expansion strategy.
Over the past six years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 65 offices in 57 markets and from 300 to more than 1,700 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Effective immediately, Bill Ehret becomes a Principal of Avison Young and Managing Director of the Indianapolis office. He most recently served as a co-founder and partner of Cushman & Wakefield/Summit in Indianapolis.
Ehret will focus on overseeing the growth and development of Avison Young's presence in the Indianapolis region, servicing new and existing clients, and managing the day-to-day operations of the office.
In addition, Nancy Gibbs joins Avison Young as a Senior Associate. She was most recently a client coordinator at Cushman & Wakefield/Summit. At Avison Young, she will support Ehret on service delivery, marketing and business development activities.
"The new Indianapolis office marks another milestone in Avison Young's aggressive global expansion program, and further strengthens our growth efforts in the U.S. Midwest, which is a highly dynamic and strategic commercial real estate market," comments Rose. "We're thrilled to add another state to our network of American, Canadian and European offices. By expanding into Indiana, we will widen our Midwest footprint and facilitate more links with major markets within the region. We'll also open more doors to international business and expansion opportunities for our firm and our clients."
Rose continues: "We're delighted to welcome Bill and Nancy to Avison Young and to benefit from their local market knowledge and deep client and business relationships."
Today's announcement follows the opening of a new Avison Young office in Minneapolis on March 2, 2015. Avison Young opened its first Midwest office in Chicago in January 2009. Since then, the firm has expanded in the region by opening offices in Detroit (October 2012), Columbus (January 2014) and Cleveland (September 2014).
"Opening the Indianapolis office represents a continuation of Avison Young's strategic plan to establish full-service offices in the major markets across North America in order to serve our clients and support our real estate service platform," states Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations for Avison Young. "Indianapolis, and Indiana as a whole, will provide many synergies with our other Midwest offices and enable us to better serve clients who are seeking to acquire, sell or lease properties in all asset classes. By having such proven industry veterans as Bill and Nancy on board, we will be able to serve our clients with best-in-class expertise from the get-go."
In his new role, Ehret will work closely with Avison Young Principals Jim Becker in Michigan and Ohio, Danny Nikitas in Illinois and Mark Evenson in Minneapolis to build a strong Midwestern platform.
"With the appointment of Bill Ehret, we will receive the benefit of a proven market leader who has the unique experience of having built a full-service real estate services company in Indianapolis," says Becker. "Bill's energy and passion for the industry will be a natural magnet for Indianapolis' top real estate talent, allowing Avison Young to quickly and effectively serve existing clients and develop new client relationships in a top-tier business environment. The addition of Nancy Gibbs to the Indianapolis team will allow Avison Young to quickly ramp up market-based activity."
Effective immediately, Avison Young's new Indianapolis office is located in the BMO Plaza in downtown Indianapolis at 135 North Pennsylvania Street, Suite 1250.
"It is exciting to be joining such a talented group of people who have assembled at Avison Young over the past couple of years," notes Ehret. "The firm's Principal-led, collaborative culture and philosophy will serve the business community of Indianapolis well and provide for client-centered real estate solutions. Nancy and I enthusiastically look forward to serving our existing clients and future Avison Young clients in the Indianapolis and Indiana marketplace."
Indianapolis is the capital and largest city in the state of Indiana. The population of the Indianapolis metropolitan area and surrounding communities totals approximately 2 million people, and the Indianapolis region ranks as the 29th largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. Indianapolis-based Forbes 500 and Fortune 1000 companies include WellPoint, Eli Lilly and Company, CNO Financial Group, Simon Property Group, Dow AgroSciences and Marsh Supermarkets. Other major Indianapolis employers include NCAA Headquarters, Exact Target, Rolls Royce, IU Health, Roche Diagnostics (North American headquarters) and Angie's List. Indianapolis also hosts the annual world famous Indianapolis 500 and several NCAA championship events.
Today's announcement also comes on the heels of Avison Young being named, on March 10, 2015, as a Canada's Best Managed Companies gold standard winner for 2014.
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Biographies
Bill Ehret
Bill Ehret brings 33 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as a co-founder and partner with Cushman & Wakefield/Summit in Indianapolis. He launched Summit Realty Group in 1993 before spearheading its move to the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance in 2002. Ehret grew his Indianapolis operation from five to 75 members, enabling it to become one of the top 15 commercial real estate firms in the U.S. Midwest. He also served on the Cushman and Wakefield Alliance Executive Committee from 2006 to 2014.
Ehret started his commercial real estate career as a researcher with a leading Indianapolis company before becoming a broker and executive. During his career, he has gained considerable expertise in the Indianapolis office market, particularly within the downtown core, while representing such clients as Equity Office Properties, Dow Chemical, Dow AgroSciences, Milliman, USA, Krieg DeVault, LLP, USA Football and USA Gymnastics. He has garnered numerous awards, including: Indiana Commercial Board of Realtors Realtor of the Year (2011); Midwest Commercial Real Estate Magazine Hall of Fame (2011); Indianapolis Business Journal Who's Who in Commercial Real Estate (2003 and 2011); NAIOP Broker Transaction of the Year (2009); SIOR Largest Dollar Volume Transaction – Office (2004); and CoStar Group Indianapolis Power Broker (2005-2014).
A member of Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) since 1989, Ehret is also active with many civic and business organizations, including Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA) and ARC of Indiana. From 2011 to 2013, he served on Indiana University's Kelley School of Business/Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies advisory board. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Indiana University.
Nancy Gibbs
Nancy Gibbs brings seven years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as a client coordinator with Cushman & Wakefield/Summit in Indianapolis. She joined Summit in 2008, initially working as an administrative assistant. Her focus is on both landlord and tenant representation within the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Gibbs holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Louisville. She is active in her community as a team coordinator with the Indianapolis Sports Corporation's Corporate Challenge while also supporting Noble of Indiana as a committee member of the 2015 Noble Golf Classic.
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 1,700 real estate professionals in 65 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties.
• Editors/Reporters:
Please click on links to view and download photos of Bill Ehret and and Nancy Gibbs
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Bill_Ehret.png
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Nancy_Gibbs.jpg
For further information/comment/photos:
• Sherry Quan, Principal, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; cell: 604.726.0959
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028
• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610
• Jim Becker, Principal and Managing Director, Detroit, Avison Young: 313.510.2825
• Bill Ehret, Principal and Managing Director, Indianapolis, Avison Young: 317.590.1178
Avison Young's new Indianapolis office is located at BMO Plaza, 135 N. Pennsylvania Street, Suite 1250, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Avison Young was a winner of Canada's Best Managed Companies program in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and has demonstrated its commitment to the program and successfully reapplied for the designation as a Gold Standard winner in 2014.
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SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)
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