Avison Young opens new office in San Francisco

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Apr 11, 2012, 11:00 ET

Leading Canadian commercial real estate firm opens 12th location outside Canada as part of strategic plan to expand its services across U.S.; Nick Slonek becomes Principal and Managing Director, Northern California

TORONTO, April 11, 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 San Francisco.

The newest American office marks Avison Young's 12th location outside of Canada, the company's third California office, and the next step in the firm's aggressive growth and expansion strategy.

Effective immediately, Nick Slonek joins Avison Young as a Principal and Managing Director of the Northern California region. Based in Avison Young's new downtown San Francisco office, Slonek will focus his efforts on overseeing the growth and development of the company's presence throughout Northern California, as well as servicing new and existing clients. He was most recently a Principal and Senior Vice-President in the San Francisco office of Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 29 offices in 26 markets and from 300 to more than 900 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

"We are excited to be opening our newest office in San Francisco, which will enhance our growing presence in the U.S. The hiring of Nick Slonek is in line with our strategic plan to expand our commercial real estate services with high-quality leaders across the nation," comments Rose. "The San Francisco Bay Area - and the entirety of the Western U.S. region - is a vast and expanding real estate market and a focal point for many of our investor and occupier clients. We are thrilled that Nick has joined us to lead our efforts in Northern California as he has an extensive and excellent track record of building a first-class service platform in this market."

"Nick is an experienced dealmaker and has terrific relationships with many clients, both corporate and institutional, throughout the Bay Area and beyond," says Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "He shares our common culture and our company's enthusiasm for all the opportunities we have in growing our market presence in Northern California and the Western region. His commitment to our shared vision and our passion for excellent client service was a determining factor in adding Nick as a Principal."

He continues: "The Bay Area is a critical location to our U.S. strategy, given the city's position as a corporate-occupier market as well as a highly desirable investment market for our investor clients. We couldn't be more pleased to have Nick on our management team."

Webb adds that Avison Young is using its highly profitable platform and its pristine balance sheet to recruit other senior brokers and executives to fill the company's service delivery needs in San Francisco and the Western region, and that plans for the company include further acquisitions to grow the Avison Young brand internationally.

Effective May 1, Avison Young's new San Francisco office will be located at 601 California Street, 5th floor, in downtown San Francisco.

Avison Young opened its first California office in Los Angeles in August 2011, followed by a second Los Angeles office in December through the acquisition of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc. Today's announcement comes on the heels of industry veteran Christopher Cooper joining Avison Young as a Principal and Managing Director of the Southern California region last month.

"I am thrilled to be joining Avison Young at this point in my career. The Bay Area market is well-positioned for a firm that is strategic, debt-free and well-capitalized," says Slonek. "I am also proud to become a Principal at Avison Young. To be joining a firm and a management team with a proven track record, and that is executing on its plan to aggressively expand across the U.S. and globally, is very exciting."

"Avison Young has undergone significant growth over the past three years and is prepared to continue on this pace. I am impressed by the company's current performance and leading-edge strategic direction. Avison Young is composed of a savvy group of professionals and I look forward to learning from them. Of course, servicing existing and new clients with a fresh set of eyes is my number one priority."

Slonek brings to Avison Young 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. In 1988, he worked at Nelson Peterson & Associates as a downtown San Francisco office leasing broker. In 1990, he joined Coldwell Banker (now CBRE) and enjoyed a successful career there until 2004, at which time he opened the San Francisco office of Cornish & Carey Commercial, Inc. (which merged in 2010 with Newmark Knight Frank to become Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank).

Primarily focusing on corporate tenant representation on a local, national and international basis, Slonek has represented more than 10 million square feet of office tenants during his career. At Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank, Slonek consistently ranked among the top performers during his nine years with the company. While with Coldwell Banker, he ranked # 1 in revenue production in the San Francisco downtown office in 1998, 2002 and 2003. He and his partners were also Top 5 performers from 1996 to 2003.

Recent lease transactions include: First Republic Bank (230,000 square feet (sf)), Citigroup (120,000 sf), Sears (50,000 sf) and Western Union (26,000 sf). Slonek also represents GLL at 199 Fremont Street and 350 Mission Street (a 350,000-sf development site); Langley Investments, Ashforth and GE Pension at Foundry II, 405 Howard Street; Sumitomo's 123 Mission Street; and Kennedy Wilson's 300 California Street.

Slonek is a senior member of The Guardsmen, a group that raises money for underprivileged children. He has served with the March of Dimes and the San Francisco Boys & Girls Club and participated on the board of directors of the Bay Area chapters for both organizations. He is a member of the Big "C" Society/Bear Backers, which assists with funding for the University of California at Berkeley's athletic department; and is acting President of the California Vintage Wine Society, of which he has been a board member for the past five years. Slonek holds a Bachelor's degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley where he played varsity water polo.

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 29 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 Nick Slonek
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Slonek_Nick.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.