Avison Young opens new office in Reno, Nevada

Leading Canadian commercial real estate firm opens 10th location outside Canada as part of strategic plan to expand its services across U.S.; 14 members join, John Pinjuv becomes Managing Director

TORONTO, March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today the opening of a new office in Reno, Nevada.

The newest American office marks Avison Young's 10th location outside of Canada, the company's second Nevada office, and the next step in the firm's aggressive growth and expansion strategy.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 27 offices in 24 markets and from 300 to more than 900 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

Effective immediately, John Pinjuv joins Avison Young as Managing Director of the Reno office. His responsibilities will include overseeing the growth and development of the company's presence in Reno and the day-to-day operations of the office, including brokerage, property management and receivership services.

The move brings 14 new members - 11 brokers and three staff members - to the Avison Young organization. All 14 members were most recently with Grubb & Ellis in Reno.

"We are pleased to have John and his entire team join our rapidly-growing Western U.S. platforms," comments Rose. "The new office is a great opportunity for Avison Young to build on the successes of our other Western U.S. operations. With their combined backgrounds and experience in the industry, John and his team will build upon Avison Young's foundation of quality service and lead us to further growth while maintaining Avison Young's excellent reputation in all the communities in which we serve."

Also joining Avison Young are the following: Mark Krueger (Senior Vice-President, Land Division); Chris Coombs (Associate, Land Division); Tad Loran (Senior Associate, Retail Division); Ashley Lawson (Associate, Retail Division); Rick LaMay (Vice-President, Investment Division); Gregory Shutt (Vice-President, Industrial Division);  Chris Fairchild (Senior Associate, Industrial Division); David Schuster (Senior Vice-President, Industrial Division); Don Welsh (Vice-President, Office Division); Reed Simmons (Vice-President, Office Division); Erin Krueger (Business Operations Manager, Marketing Manager); Breanne Bringle (Marketing Coordinator); Ashley Young (Marketing Coordinator).

"We are very excited to have John and his team join our Nevada operations," adds Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "This group has extensive experience in the Nevada-area markets and they form a great partnership with our growing Las Vegas team headed by Joseph Kupiec. We look forward to continuing to build that regional operation in the future."

Avison Young opened its first Nevada office in November 2011 in Las Vegas, with industry veteran Kupiec joining as a Principal to help launch the company's brokerage business in Nevada.

"I have had the opportunity to work with John and his team of professionals over the past 10 years and I have tremendous respect for the entire group," notes Kupiec. "They are second to none in their market, and align well with our company's holistic approach of providing best-in-class solutions to our valued clients. As our company continues to aggressively expand in the U.S., the addition of John and his team further strengthens our presence in the Western states, and solidifies our ability to better serve our clients throughout Nevada."

Avison Young's new Reno office will be located at 985 Damonte Ranch Parkway, Suite 320.

Pinjuv brings to Avison Young three decades of commercial real estate industry experience. Prior to joining Avison Young, he served as President of Grubb & Ellis|NCG in Reno, specializing in investment properties in the Northern Nevada area. He oversaw the company in all receivership and brokerage areas.

Pinjuv started his real estate career with Las Vegas Coldwell Banker Commercial (CB Richard Ellis) as a multi-family investment specialist in 1982. In 1984, he moved to Reno and joined Real Properties Limited as a multi-family and office investment specialist, eventually becoming Vice-President of the commercial division. In 1995, he formed the Nevada Commercial Group, which became Grubb & Ellis|NCG in 1996.

Past and current clients include: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Wickland Oil, AT&T, Bank of the West, California Health Care Foundation, and J.E. Roberts. Pinjuv has represented OREO departments of a number of financial institutions, offering leasing, disposition and court-appointed receivership services. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from the University of San Diego and has obtained his SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office Realtors) designation.

"Avison Young offers us an opportunity to provide enhanced services to our clients by providing an energetic and expanding platform to work from," notes Pinjuv. "We look forward to further developing our comprehensive team in Reno - and working with our new colleagues in Nevada and throughout the Avison Young organization - to address the diverse commercial real estate needs of our clients."

With a population of more than 200,000, Reno is the largest city in Northern Nevada and has been long known as the "Biggest Little City in the World." Greater Reno-Tahoe's business climate is on the rise. With room for expansion and the benefits of Nevada's tax structure, the area is primed for businesses — large and small — to grow and become a staple in the community. The region is centrally located to major western cities including San Francisco, Portland, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, all within a day's drive.

Last month, 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 27 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 John Pinjuv
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/John_Pinjuv.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.