Avison Young acquires Appian Realty Advisors, LLC

Purchase expands Avison Young's Washington, DC area presence by adding office in Northern Virginia; Dan Gonzalez and Tom Sandlin join as Principals

TORONTO, July 9 /CNW/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today that it has acquired Appian Realty Advisors, LLC, a Northern Virginia-based agency leasing, tenant representation and project management firm.

The acquisition expands Avison Young's market coverage by adding an office in Northern Virginia, the largest market in the Washington, DC region. The change in ownership will add 16 employees -including 12 brokers and project management professionals led by Dan Gonzalez and Tom Sandlin - to Avison Young's U.S. Capital Region operations.

Effective immediately, Gonzalez and Sandlin become Principals of Avison Young and Senior Vice-Presidents in the Northern Virginia office. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Avison Young opened its first U.S. office in Chicago, IL in 2009, followed by U.S. offices in Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA and Houston, TX over the past half year. In the last 18 months, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 20 offices and from 300 to nearly 700 real estate professionals in Canada and the U.S.

"It is a privilege to have Dan and Tom become Principals of Avison Young and we welcome them and the Appian team to the Avison Young organization," comments Rose. "From the outset, we have consistently communicated our growth plan - to invest in the companies and top talent who believe in our client-service model. We have listened to the voice of the client, and it is clear that value is defined by strategic solutions. Our structure transcends the peer group's decades-old command and control silo structures that are more shareholder-based than client-centric."

Rose continues: "Tom, Dan and the Appian team embrace our culture of intellectual capital delivered to clients by professionals who are accountable for client outcomes. Dan and Tom have always operated according to these same principles, which are the cornerstone of our Washington, DC Metropolitan Area and global presence."

In 2001, Gonzalez and Sandlin established their own organization, which they renamed Appian Realty Advisors, LLC in 2007, after successful careers at the Staubach Company where they consistently achieved national top production awards.

Appian Realty Advisors, LLC is a full-service commercial real estate firm with agency leasing, tenant representation and project management service lines. The company represents owners and occupiers in dispositions and investment sales, and provides equity/joint venture financing, development consultation and construction management services. Appian also operates specialty practice groups devoted to data centers and the biotech and healthcare markets. With its clients, Appian creates strategies for cost-effective, optimally functional facilities for research and development, laboratories, manufacturing and patient care.

Appian's agency leasing portfolio currently comprises nearly 50 listings totaling 2.35 million square feet (msf) with 1.4 msf available for lease or sale; land listings in excess of 1,000 acres listed for sale or lease; tenant/buyer representation assignments totaling 500,000 square feet (sf); and project management and consulting assignments of 775,000 sf.

"I couldn't be more excited to work with Dan and Tom and the talented Appian team. This highly respected group brings a breadth of experience across product types, geography and service lines and together we are well-positioned for further expansion. This is a strategic acquisition that gives Avison Young a competitive business advantage in several key areas," states Keith Lipton, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the Washington DC Capital Region.

"Moreover, Appian has a client-centered approach and sterling reputation that align very well with Avison Young business practices," adds Lipton, who joined Avison Young in November 2009 to launch the company's presence in the Capital Region.

Effective immediately, Appian's office, located at 7901 Jones Branch Drive in McLean, Virginia (Tysons Corner), will be rebranded as Avison Young.

"Tom and Dan are leaders in the business with a stellar track record both with Appian and throughout their careers. They will be great additions to our DC leadership team and, combining with Appian, will give us a much broader client-service platform in the DC area," notes Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations.

"This acquisition establishes agency leasing and project management businesses with the addition of two very senior brokers (Gonzalez and Sandlin) and their team. Appian's heavy focus on government/IT, healthcare and biotech clients will also expand Avison Young's business base with the region's very active client types."

"The Avison Young philosophy and business approach are basically a perfect fit with Appian's," says Gonzalez. "I am confident that together we are going to achieve great results in the Washington, DC region real estate sector. Appian was built under two guiding principles: first, that everything centers around clients, serving their needs today and anticipating what their needs will be tomorrow; and second, that we foster a culture of world-class professionalism and entrepreneurial spirit."

In terms of timing, Appian's interest in joining Avison Young was driven by Appian's growth of both clients and staff. "While growth is a good problem to have, Appian was committed to maintaining its high standards while continuing to build on its successes. It became clear very early in the process that the best scenario for our clients, our staff and the futures of both was to become part of the Avison Young family."

    
    Daniel J. Gonzalez
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Gonzalez has more than 17 years of experience in all aspects of commercial real estate and is generally recognized as one of the top professionals in the Washington Metropolitan Area. He has managed and executed complex projects consisting of strategic planning/consulting, leasing and sales, financing and development. Gonzalez has completed over 4 msf of local, national and international transactions with a cumulative value in excess of $2.5 billion.

Gonzalez serves as: a board member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and the Virginia Biotechnology Association; investor committee member of Amplifier Ventures; advisor for the George Mason University Entrepreneurship Center; Governor appointee on the Virginia Biotechnology Advisory Board; Chair of the Equal Footing Foundation; advisor for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship; and scholarship reviewer for the Hispanic College Fund.

He holds an MBA from the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University.

    
    Thomas Sandlin
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Sandlin has more than 20 years of corporate service and development experience with such companies and organizations as MCI, Mobil, Intelsat, Nextel (Sprint), Hughes, the National Association of Securities Dealers, and various Federal Government agencies, where he managed and executed complex projects consisting of strategic planning/consulting, development, acquisition, restructuring, financing and disposition. Sandlin's individual project management experiences range up to 1 msf in size, in addition to having created and planned development projects totaling over 4 msf and 3,000 residential units.

Sandlin serves as a Fredericksburg Regional Alliance board member. He holds an MBA from Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Quantitative Methods from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Together, Gonzalez and Sandlin have represented such notable occupiers as Walmart, Rowe Furniture, Computer Sciences Corporation, Nextel (Sprint), Abraxas Corporation, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science and Mediatech Corporation in transactions for office headquarters, distribution, manufacturing and laboratory space. Owner representation is equally diverse with the Gonzalez/Sandlin team executing agency leasing, development, joint-venture, and sale-lease transactions for the likes of the New Boston Fund, Buchanan Partners, William & Mary Foundation, Messier Services, Pulsecom, Inc., WestPark Corporate Center and Discovery Center Two.

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 nearly 700 real estate professionals in 20 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.

    
    For further information/comment/photos:
    ---------------------------------------
    -   Sherry Quan, National Director of Communications & Media Relations:
        [phone]; cell: [phone]

    -   Mark Rose, Chair and CEO: [phone]

    -   Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations: [phone]

    -   Keith Lipton, Principal and Managing Director, Washington DC Capital
        Region: [phone]

    -   Dan Gonzalez, Principal: [phone]

    -   Thomas Sandlin, Principal: [phone]
    

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