Spencer Bomar and Patrick Arnold join Avison Young's brokerage operations in Atlanta

Leading Southeast U.S. retail tenant rep professionals join Avison Young as Principals

ATLANTA, GA, March 21 /PRNewswire/ - Steve Dils, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Atlanta office, announced today that leading retail commercial real estate brokers Spencer Bomar and Patrick Arnold have joined Avison Young's brokerage operations in Atlanta.

Effective immediately, Bomar and Arnold join Avison Young as Principals. They will focus on retail tenant representation as well as assisting Avison Young in developing its U.S. retail platform and forging partnerships with retail brokers in Canada.

Both Bomar and Arnold were most recently Senior Vice-Presidents of Transwestern's national retail advisory services group in Atlanta.

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.

"I am very pleased that Spencer and Patrick have decided to join Avison Young. They form one of the top retail tenant rep teams in the Southeast and, more importantly, they are exactly the type of professionals we are looking to bring on board as Principals because of their character and professional integrity," comments Dils. "Avison Young has a very strong retail presence in Canada. With the relationships Spencer and Patrick have established in the U.S., they will be instrumental in helping us grow our retail platform in the U.S."

"Spencer and Patrick have been representing some of the biggest and best retailers in the U.S. for a number of years," adds Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "We look forward to having them contribute their expertise to our business in the U.S. and in North America. Teaming Spencer and Patrick with our existing retail brokers in Canada will allow Avison Young to provide industry-leading occupancy advice to our retail clients as they expand their businesses and face new industry challenges throughout North America."

Bomar and Arnold each brings to Avison Young more than 15 years of experience in the real estate industry and have a significant record of achievement in providing comprehensive real estate and consulting services to users and owners of real estate.

"We feel very fortunate to become the newest Principals with Avison Young. As our discussions evolved, we were impressed with the company's team-oriented atmosphere and the vision Avison Young has for the future," says Bomar. "We are confident there will be a seamless transition for our clients, and we look forward to being a part of the growth of the company and its retail platform."

As Senior Vice-Presidents at Transwestern, Bomar and Arnold assisted retailers with site selection, dispositions, and lease and build-to-suit negotiations throughout the Southeast. In addition to representing retail tenants, they provided leasing and marketing expertise for developers and owners of shopping centers.

The team's retail leasing experience includes grocery-anchored community centers, shadow-anchored retail developments next to regional malls, big-box developments and urban specialty retail. Past and current clients include Home Depot, Target, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Midland Atlantic Development, New Horizon Retail Development, General Electric, Kimco Realty Corporation, Total Wine & More, Aveda, and Orvis.

Bomar has held senior positions at a number of other prominent retail real estate firms. He was with Staubach Retail Services for more than 10 years, rising to the position of Executive Vice-President and winning that firm's Most Valuable Player Award. Bomar was also ranked as Staubach's overall Top Producer and was consistently a member of the firm's annual Top Producers Club.

Before joining Transwestern, Bomar was with North American Properties for three years, where he oversaw site selection for Kohl's expansion throughout the Southeast. He also assisted with site selection and project leasing for North American Properties' development interests. Bomar is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). On numerous occasions, the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors has named Bomar as one of the city's Top 10 retail brokers in the retail and land categories.

Prior to joining Transwestern, Arnold was a Vice-President with Staubach Retail Services. He joined The Staubach Company in 1998 and, prior to that, worked with JPI Properties, a multi-family real estate developer. Arnold is a member of ICSC and the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors. In 2005, he was nominated Most Valuable Player at Staubach Retail. In 2006, the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors acknowledged him as the Top Retail Broker for that year. In 2007 and 2008, he was again recognized as one of the top brokers in the region.

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 link to view and download photos of Spencer Bomar and Patrick Arnold
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/Media_Releases/Temp/Spencer_Bomar.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/pdf/Media_Releases/Temp/Patrick_Arnold.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.