Philip Palmer joins Avison Young in Chicago

Industry and community leader becomes Principal

CHICAGO, IL, March 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Michael McKiernan, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Chicago office, announced today that leading commercial real estate broker Philip Palmer has joined Avison Young's brokerage operations in Chicago.

Effective immediately, Palmer joins Avison Young as a Principal and will focus his efforts on tenant advisory services. He was most recently a Senior Vice-President with Grubb & Ellis in Chicago.

"We couldn't be more pleased to have Phil join the Avison Young organization. His background and industry expertise will be of great benefit to Avison Young clients," comments McKiernan. "In his advisory role, Phil always brings a detailed management and service-oriented approach while emphasizing innovation, entrepreneurialism and the bottom line. He consistently ranks among the top producers in Chicago and will bring a tremendous depth of real estate knowledge to our firm."

Palmer brings 16 years of commercial real estate industry experience to Avison Young. He joined Grubb & Ellis in 1999 and has worked with a variety of businesses on their facility requirements over the years while also becoming a member of the company's President's Council. His clients have included publicly-traded and privately-held Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, not-for-profits, startups and investment partnerships, and data centers. He also has working knowledge of municipal and state incentive programs. Palmer has also worked on development, investment and consulting projects, and offers his clients a broad experience and perspective on real estate issues.

Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Palmer worked at Tanguay-Burke-Stratton/Staubach Company, TRC/Palmer Publishing Company, Shlaes & Company, and Continental Illinois Mortgage Company. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Lake Forest College and did graduate work at Northwestern University. In addition, he is a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Commercial Real Estate Organization (CREO), and the U.S. Green Building Council. He is also on the Auxiliary Board of Directors for the Chicago Architectural Foundation and sits on the Chicago Sister Cities International committee.

Palmer is also a community leader, playing prominent roles in many not-for-profit organizations. He is an active member on the Board of Directors for the Center on Halsted, and a past Board member of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights. He has also served on the national Board of Governors for the Human Rights Campaign and on the Boards of American Youth Hostels, Cook County Court Watchers, and Institute of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

"I have known and worked with Avison Young and its leadership team for many years. The company's open architecture and intrinsic alignment with clients' needs offer the best model and platform for sophisticated commercial real estate users," says Palmer. "I look forward to working with the Chicago team and my colleagues throughout the organization to generate new business and build on the organization's success."

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 28 offices and from 300 to more than 900 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S. Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young opening new offices in Reno, NV and Bethesda, MD earlier this week.

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 28 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.

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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http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Phil_Palmer.JPG

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.