John Ziesmer and Kevin Moore become Principals at Avison Young

Leading office tenant rep team of Ziesmer, Moore, Kimberlyn de Buhr and Brian Means
join Avison Young from Grubb & Ellis to grow service platform in Chicago region

CHICAGO, IL, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Michael McKiernan, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Chicago office, announced today that industry veterans John Ziesmer and Kevin Moore have joined Avison Young as Principals.

Effective immediately, Ziesmer and Moore will be based in Avison Young's Chicago office. Team members Kimberlyn de Buhr and Brian Means also join as Associate Director and Analyst, respectively. All four were most recently with Grubb & Ellis in Chicago - Ziesmer and Moore as Senior Vice-Presidents.

"We are very excited to welcome John, Kevin, Kimberlyn and Brian to Avison Young as we continue our growth in the Chicago market. They form one of the most successful and trusted tenant representation leasing teams serving downtown Chicago and outlying markets," comments McKiernan. "This Ziesmer team acquisition continues Avison Young's commitment to partner with the best professionals in the business, and we couldn't be more pleased to have such a highly-regarded and professional, client-focused team join our company."

At Avison Young, Ziesmer and Moore will focus on office tenant representation, primarily in the central business district of Chicago. They will also represent tenants in suburban Chicago as well as markets throughout the U.S. as clients demand. de Buhr will support the team in business development activities, and Means in financial modeling and business case creation.

"This team's extensive office tenant representation experience and expertise will augment our current capability to serve clients in the Chicago marketplace," adds Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "The team has an established track record of exceptional client services and will be instrumental as we expand our leasing business across North America. The addition of this new team to Avison Young reflects the intention of the firm to maintain its goal to build the leading global real estate solutions company by aligning the interests of our clients with the skill sets of our professionals."

Avison Young is Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company. Over the past two years, the company has grown from 11 to 23 offices and from 300 to more than 700 real estate professionals across Canada and in the U.S.

"We are excited to become the newest Principals with Avison Young and to be part of the company's continued success and expansion in the Chicago region," says Ziesmer on behalf of his team. "We were impressed by the strength of the Avison Young organization and the company's level of commitment to its long-term growth strategy. We look forward to continuing to provide our sophisticated clients with the same high level of service and market knowledge to meet their real estate needs and their long-term business objectives."

John Ziesmer

John Ziesmer joined Grubb & Ellis in 2007 as Senior Vice-President, Office Group. During his 27-year career, he has focused on providing strategic real estate planning and site selection to law firms, corporations and investment banking firms throughout the U.S.

Prior to his affiliation with Grubb & Ellis, Ziesmer was with Trammell Crow Company from 2004 to 2006. Before that, he was a member of Studley's tenant representation team for 14 years and a Vice-President at Jones Lang LaSalle for seven years, representing landlords in leasing transactions. Prior to launching his career in commercial real estate, Ziesmer was a banking associate at American National Bank of Chicago for three years.

Past client assignments have included: General Services Administration, 531,000 square feet (sf), regional representation (IL, MN, WI, IN, MI, OH); Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney, 510,000 sf, regional representation (IL, OH, MI, IN); American National Bank, 400,000-sf regional headquarters, Chicago, IL.

Ziesmer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance, with honors, from the University of Illinois and an MBA in finance, with distinction, from DePaul University. He is a member of the Commercial Real Estate Organization (CREO) and the Chicago Office Leasing Brokers Association (COLBA), and is on the Board of Directors of Friends of the Chicago River.

Kevin Moore

Kevin Moore joined Grubb & Ellis in 2007 as a Vice-President with the tenant representation services group in the downtown Chicago office. Blending his experience in finance, economics and real estate, Moore has completed transactions valued in excess of $200 million on behalf of numerous corporate tenants in the Chicago metropolitan area and major Midwest markets. His knowledge of financial structuring, strategic planning and detailed market intelligence has provided his clients with fiscally-sound solutions to their real estate challenges.

Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Moore was Associate Director with Studley for six years. In addition to his acquisition and disposition work, Moore has helped many space users capitalize on complex real estate situations through specialized transactions such as sale/Ieasebacks, early lease renegotiations and government incentive transactions.

Past client assignments have included: Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey, 65,000-sf lease restructure; Arjo, Inc., 35,000-sf new headquarters relocation, Addison, IL; Hoopis Financial/Northwestern Mutual, 55,000-sf lease restructure, Skokie, IL; Dayton Superior, various portfolio analysis strategies, nationwide; The Form House, 220,000-sf headquarters lease restructure, Bedford Park, IL.

Moore holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance with a minor in economics from Miami University in Ohio. He has completed the required course work for the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation.

Kimberlyn de Buhr

Kimberlyn de Buhr joined Grubb & Ellis in 2008 as a Senior Associate in the office tenant representative group, focusing primarily on the downtown Chicago office market. She was responsible for new-client development and maintaining market intelligence.

Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, de Buhr was responsible for identifying revenue-generating opportunities for a commercial office furniture and facility-services vendor, and for her own clients in B2C industries. Prior to that, she spent more than 10 years working in marketing communications, holding positions with General Motors and then with Navistar (International Truck & Engine). She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Iowa State University.

Brian Means

Brian Means joined Grubb & Ellis in 2008 as a research analyst following internships with The Staubach Company and Jones Lang LaSalle in 2007 and 2006. He became an Associate with Grubb & Ellis in 2009. Means brings an in-depth analytical approach to the research, financial and marketing aspects of the transaction process. He has experience working with clients on regional and national tenant representation, sale/leaseback, investment sales, leasing, and property management projects.

With Bachelor of Science degrees in real estate finance and legal studies, both from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Means is an active participant in the Kelley Alumni Leadership Network and serves as a real estate industry insider. He mentors undergraduates interested in the commercial real estate industry and involves himself in the Young Office Brokers Association of Chicago.

Founded in 1978, Avison Young is Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company and the only national, Canadian-owned, principal-managed real estate brokerage firm in the country. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and ranked among Canada's leading national commercial real estate organizations, Avison Young is a full-service commercial real estate company comprising more than 700 real estate professionals in 23 offices across Canada and in the U.S. The 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 links to view and download photos of John Ziesmer, Kevin Moore, Kimberlyn de Buhr and Brian Means
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/Media_Releases/Temp/John_Ziesmer_Chicago.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/Media_Releases/Temp/Kevin_Moore_Chicago.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/Media_Releases/Temp/Kimberlyn_DeBuhr_Chicago.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/Media_Releases/Temp/Brian_Means_Chicago.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.