Avison Young opens new office in Oakland, California

Leading industry professional Charlie Allen joins as Principal and Managing Director; firm opens its third Bay Area office

TORONTO, Aug. 11, 2014 /CNW/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, today announced the opening of a new Oakland office to expand the company's market presence in California's Bay Area.

The newest American office represents Avison Young's third location in the Bay Area, 10th office in California, 42nd office in the U.S., and an additional step in the firm's ongoing aggressive growth strategy.

Over the past five years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 59 offices in 48 markets, and from 300 to more than 1,500 real estate professionals across Canada, the U.S. and in Europe.

Effective immediately, seasoned industry leader Charlie Allen becomes a Principal and Managing Director of the firm's new Oakland office. With 21 years of commercial real estate experience, he will focus on overseeing the growth and development of Avison Young's presence in the Oakland region, servicing new and existing clients, and managing the day-to-day operations of the office.

In addition, Anthony Shell joins the firm as a Vice-President in Oakland. He has eight years of experience in the sector. Both join Avison Young from Cushman & Wakefield in Oakland, where Allen served as a Senior Director and Shell as an Associate Director.

"Opening an Oakland office is another strategic move for Avison Young to become a dominant player in the Bay Area commercial real estate market as we continue to introduce our differentiated brand of Principal-led, client-centric service into key markets in California, as well as the rest of North America and overseas," comments Rose. "Oakland, with its proximity to San Francisco, is a key market for Avison Young as we expand our business in Northern California. The entirety of the Western U.S. region is a vast real estate market and a focal point for many of our investor and occupier clients. We couldn't be more pleased to have Charlie lead our local efforts to further strengthen our Bay Area presence."

Avison Young opened its first Northern California office in April 2012 in San Francisco, with Nick Slonek joining as a Principal and Managing Director of the Northern California region. The company opened its Sacramento office in June 2013 and its San Mateo office in July 2013.

According to Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations: "Avison Young's expansion into Oakland is of critical importance to Avison Young's overall Northern California strategic plan. Charlie Allen's depth of client experiences and expertise as a Bay Area insider will significantly expand our footprint in Northern California. Furthermore, we will be able to better service the needs of our clients who have, or are considering, a presence in the Bay Area and other parts of California as the American economy continues to improve."

Allen will work closely with Slonek to ensure that the Oakland brokerage maximizes its synergies with Avison Young's other Bay Area offices.

"Charlie Allen is the prototypical Avison Young Managing Director," states Slonek. "He is a market leader whose existing relationships span his entire career and provide proof of his client-centric nature. His collegial and professional approach make him a perfect fit for our collaborative culture. His strong desire to work with our partners and build the Avison Young brand in the Oakland market demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit that we need to further expand our overall Bay Area presence."

Effective immediately, Avison Young's new Oakland office is located at the Kaiser Center, Suite 1975, 300 Lakeside Drive in downtown Oakland's Uptown district.  

"Avison Young brings the best of both worlds to my career – a national platform of services that will benefit my clients, coupled with a Principal-led, collaborative culture that fosters business across the entire Avison Young organization," says Allen. "The impressive, selective growth of Avison Young over the last few years has been designed to preserve an environment of client-focused business by adding quality, seasoned real estate professionals who share the same entrepreneurial spirit and integrity. I am thrilled to be part of the Avison Young family."

In conjunction with Allen and Shell's appointments, Avison Young Principal Kevin Ahaesy and Associate JW Krumpholz will move to the new Oakland office from the company's San Francisco location. Slonek says the hiring of Allen and Shell, along with the re-location of Ahaesy and Krumpholz, are just some of many strategic moves that Avison Young plans to make in Northern California in the near future.

"With the opening of our third office in the Bay Area, we are slowly but surely securing solid market share," adds Slonek. "Our desire to further expand into Silicon Valley, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek has hit a peak and, once carried out, will accelerate Avison Young's growth in Northern California. Having an office led by highly regarded professionals in the East Bay is essential to this plan – and for servicing our clientele on a local, national and international level. The strategic deployment of such quality individuals as Charlie, Anthony, Kevin and JW in Oakland will give us the additional momentum necessary to grow our company and our clients' businesses even faster than before."

"It's exciting to watch Avison Young's continued success in attracting top-notch brokers such as Charlie Allen and Anthony Shell," says Ahaesy. "I've had the pleasure of working with both Charlie and Anthony in the past and I look forward to recreating the synergies that we've previously shared. The opening of our Oakland office is yet another deliberate step towards Avison Young's mission of building the leading global real estate solutions company.  I know that Charlie and Anthony will be a great addition to the firm's culture of honesty, integrity and partnership, and it's a pleasure to welcome them aboard."

Situated at the geographical center of the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland is the largest and most established of the East Bay cities. Located in Alameda County, Oakland encompasses 56 square miles of land, with 19 miles of coastline to the west. Oakland's central site at the crossroads of major freeways and transit systems means the city is closer to more of the region's workforce than most other cities in the Bay Area. Oakland is also an international gateway, with more than $33 billion of goods passing through the Port of Oakland each year. In addition to the commercial exchange of goods and services, Oakland also is active in cultural exchanges with its sister cities around the globe. The overall Oakland industrial real estate market throughout the I-80 and I-880 corridors comprises more than 140 million square feet (msf) of manufacturing, warehouse and distribution facilities. The overall Oakland Metro office market comprises more than 27 msf of office space and includes the cities of Berkeley, Emeryville, Alameda and Richmond.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young's acquiring Sacramento-based Aguer Havelock Associates, Inc. on July 24, 2014.

***

Biographies

Charlie Allen
Charlie Allen brings 21 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as a Senior Director with Cushman & Wakefield where he began his career in 1993 as a senior research and financial analyst. Allen specializes in office leasing brokerage with a focus on tenant and landlord representation. He has spent his entire career working in the Oakland and East Bay markets as well as nationally with several key clients, and has a long and successful track record with significant leases, listing assignments and long-term clients.

Allen holds the LEED AP designation and is active in the green-building movement as a member of the Northern California Chapter of the United States Green Building Council. He has been a guest lecturer on sustainability at California State University-East Bay and the San Francisco State MBA Business, Energy and Climate Change program. Allen strives to advise tenants and landlords alike on the value of environmentally responsible and healthy work environments, as well as the financial and marketing impacts of green buildings.

Since 2006, Allen has also been active in his community with Inner City Advisors (ICA) as a business advisor. In this role, he offers pro bono commercial real estate assistance, lease review and strategic planning services to ICA clients. Allen received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from San Francisco State University after three years at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Kevin Ahaesy
Kevin Ahaesy brings 12 years of industry experience to Avison Young. He spent his earlier years working as an industrial supply chain and logistics consultant for Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield, where he served as a Senior Director and Senior Vice-President, respectively. During his career, Ahaesy has represented numerous corporate clients throughout Northern California in the leasing and sales of industrial manufacturing, warehousing and food-grade buildings. He has been involved in hundreds of transactions with an aggregate value of more than $1 billion.

Ahaesy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, where he served as team captain for the men's water polo team. He is an active Board member for the San Francisco chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), and is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR).

Anthony Shell
Anthony Shell brings to Avison Young eight years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, most recently as an Associate Director with Cushman & Wakefield in Oakland. An office leasing specialist with a focus on creative office space, he has long been involved in the non-profit sector. Shell is currently a Board member of the Rockwood Leadership Institute and member of the Social Venture Network.

JW Krumpholz
JW Krumpholz specializes in tenant and landlord representation in Northern California's East Bay industrial market. Prior to joining Avison Young, Krumpholz was a member of the men's Olympic water polo team, earning a silver medal for the United States in the Beijing Olympic Games. Krumpholz holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California, where he served as captain, won two national titles, and was twice named national player of the year. He was awarded "Order of Troy" at commencement for extraordinary service, distinguished leadership contributions and active community participant.

Avison Young is the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 1,500 real estate professionals in 59 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties.

• Editors/Reporters: please click on links to view and download photos of Charlie Allen and Kevin Ahaesy
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/charlie_allen.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/kevin_ahaesy.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, Principal, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, 
  Avison Young: 604.647.5098; cell: 604.726.0959

• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028

• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610

• Nick Slonek, Principal and Managing Director, Northern California, 
  Avison Young: 415.322-5051

• Charlie Allen, Principal and Managing Director, Oakland, Avison Young: 510-333-8477

Avison Young's new Oakland, CA office is located at: Kaiser Center, 300 Lakeside Drive, Suite 1975, Oakland, CA 94612 510.254.4255

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young was a winner of Canada's Best Managed Companies program in 2011 and 2012 and requalified in 2013 to maintain its status as a Best Managed company.

Follow Avison Young on Twitter:
For industry news, press releases and market reports: www.twitter.com/avisonyoung 
For Avison Young listings and deals: www.twitter.com/AYListingsDeals 

Follow Avison Young Bloggers: http://blog.avisonyoung.com

Follow Avison Young on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/avison-young-commercial-real-estate

SOURCE: Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

Media Relations: Sherry Quan, 604.647.5098 or 604.726.0959, [email protected]