Daniel Lee and Jason Schouten join Avison Young in Vancouver

Leading retail brokers become Principals, will head firm's BC retail practice

VANCOUVER, Sept. 19, 2016 /CNW/ - Michael Keenan, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Vancouver, BC office, announced today the strategic hiring of leading retail brokers Daniel Lee and Jason Schouten.

Effective immediately, Lee and Schouten become Principals of Avison Young. Based in Vancouver, they will lead the firm's retail practice throughout BC while representing the interests of various local, national and international tenants as well as landlords and investors.

Lee and Schouten bring 10 and 12 years of retail real estate experience, respectively, to Avison Young. They were most recently Principals with Northwest Atlantic (NWA) in Vancouver.

Working together over the past eight years, Lee and Schouten have established themselves as leading retail brokers across Western Canada. They have assisted many national and international retailers and their development partners with site selection, market and demographic analysis; ground-up design and leasing strategies; development; strategic expansion planning and roll-out services; lease negotiation; and development-land acquisitions.

Also joining Avison Young from NWA are Michael Hodge as a Vice-President, and Connor Eden and Teresa Pham as Associates.

"We couldn't be more pleased to have these retail specialists on board as Avison Young continues to build its comprehensive, strategic approach to retail real estate," comments Keenan. "During their careers, Dan and Jason have developed strong relationships across the country with retailers and landlords alike. They are highly skilled professionals who fit perfectly within our collaborative, client-centric culture."

Keenan continues: "With full access to the Avison Young platform and talent pool, this vibrant group will provide tremendous retail real estate opportunities to our expanding client base. Retail brokerage is one of the most diverse and dynamic sectors of the commercial property market, and these young professionals, with their extensive knowledge of Western Canadian markets, will immediately add value to the transaction in various capacities and help bolster our full range of commercial real estate services and capabilities."

Over the last 10 years, Lee has worked extensively throughout Western Canada and has acted on behalf of a number of national and international retailers such as Petsmart, Joey Restaurant Group, Pier 1, Town Shoes, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Tim Horton's in their site selection. In addition, he has been a key figure in implementing ground-up design and leasing strategies for some of the country's most recognized retail developers.

Lee is active in the industry as a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and is an active supporter of the YWCA and Salvation Army of Vancouver. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in urban land economics from the University of British Columbia's (UBC) Sauder School of Business.

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to expand Avison Young's retail presence here in Vancouver and across Canada in conjunction with our colleagues throughout the country and internationally," says Lee. "I saw this move as a great opportunity to be part of Avison Young's Principal-led business model. In addition, Avison Young continues to develop good, young talent, and it is exciting to be part of the firm's expanding retail presence."

Schouten commenced his commercial real estate career in 2004 with a local real estate development and acquisition company after obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce degree in real estate from UBC's Sauder School of Business. He joined the brokerage industry in 2006 with NWA. Since that time, he has completed several major assignments on behalf of such leading retailers as Bed Bath & Beyond, Planet Fitness, Panda Express, Cora, Freshii, M&M Meats, The Source, Dairy Queen and Second Cup, as well as being actively involved in a number of large-format project leasing assignments throughout Western Canada. Schouten is a member of ICSC and a volunteer baseball coach with Jericho Little League.

"I'm delighted to be able to continue working with Daniel, Michael, Connor and Teresa at Avison Young – and to be a part of the firm's collaborative culture," says Schouten. "Avison Young has become the trending real estate firm over the past few years, and I look forward to continuing my real estate career here and drawing from the knowledge, expertise and resources available from my new Avison Young colleagues in North America and Europe."

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 2,400 real estate professionals in 78 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.

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, Principal, Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; 604.726.0959
• Michael Keenan, Principal and Managing Director, Vancouver, Avison Young: 604.647.5081
• Daniel Lee, Principal, Avison Young: 604.757.5102
• Jason Schouten, Principal, Avison Young: 604.757.5103
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young was a winner of Canada's Best Managed Companies program in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and requalified in 2015 to maintain its status as a Best Managed Gold company

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Editors/Reporters

• Please click on links to view and download photos of Daniel Lee and Jason Schouten:
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/DanielLee.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/JasonSchouten.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

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