Leading corporate services team joins Avison Young in Washington, DC
Bruce McNair, Bill Morris, Josh Hartman, Will Travis become Principals;
Eight-person team to grow Avison Young's corporate services and project management business in U.S. Capital Region
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 15, 2012 /CNW/ - Keith Lipton, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Washington, DC region, announced today that an eight-person team led by industry veterans Bruce McNair and Bill Morris has joined Avison Young to further expand the firm's corporate services and project management business in the U.S. Capital Region.
Effective immediately, McNair, Morris, Joshua Hartman and Will Travis join Avison Young as Principals; Michael Molinari and David Roehrenbeck join as Vice-Presidents; Wesley Preuss as a Financial Analyst; and Thomas Leachman as Marketing Associate.
The team will be based in the company's Washington, DC office. All eight members were most recently with Grubb & Ellis in Washington, DC.
The Morris-McNair team concentrates on executing strategic real estate solutions for a national base of corporate, legal and defense contractors, including Alion Science and Technology; Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP; and the Urban Institute. Both McNair and Morris were founding partners of Morris- McNair & Associates, Inc., which earned a sterling reputation in the Washington, DC market as a boutique investment sales and tenant-advisory firm.
While at Grubb & Ellis, this team was ranked No. 1 in the Washington, DC region each year from 2007 to 2011. As well, McNair was twice recognized as the top-ranked sales professional nationwide.
"I am very pleased to have Bruce, Bill and their entire team join Avison Young in the Washington region," comments Lipton. "Each of these members is a true market leader and has a reputation for integrity and real estate expertise. Importantly, their philosophy of always putting their clients first aligns perfectly with Avison Young's culture."
Lipton continues: "Their arrival further illustrates our strategy of attracting the best our industry has to offer and our commitment to build a full-service real estate platform. The team brings significant corporate service expertise and will strengthen our project management capability."
Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations, says the Morris-McNair team will play an important role as the firm expands its presence in the Capital Region and other U.S. markets while looking to future growth in Europe and Asia.
"Bruce, Bill and their team are industry leaders in DC and have a long and successful track record of helping clients with complex relocation decisions," notes Webb. "We are thrilled that they have chosen to join our rapidly growing platform at Avison Young, and look forward to their involvement in successfully expanding our corporate advisory business in the DC Metropolitan Area as well as nationally. Avison Young continues to seek out similar industry experts and market leaders who can expand our U.S. footprint and deliver the highest level of advisory services to our clients."
Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 26 offices and from 300 to more than 800 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.
"Avison Young has a strong reputation in the Washington, DC market," says McNair. "The company's extraordinary growth over the past three years across North America is attributed to the power of Avison Young's strategy and its principal-led culture. We are excited to be part of the company's dynamic growth."
Morris adds: "Avison Young offers a terrific client-focused platform that will benefit our existing clients and help grow our business. Furthermore, the company's vision of building the leading global real estate solutions company, by attracting experienced professionals with superior skill sets and deep intellectual fire power, is something we were attracted to - and truly excited to be a part of."
Biographies
Bruce B. McNair
McNair has 30 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry as a practitioner, manager, investor and owner of investment property and commercial real estate service companies. Prior to joining Avison Young, he was an Executive Vice-President with Grubb & Ellis, where he was recognized as the No. 1 Sales Professional Nationwide in 2009 and 2010. Before that, he co-founded Morris-McNair & Associates, Inc., a highly respected Washington, DC-based brokerage company, which was later acquired by St. Joe Company and became an integral member of GVA Advantis. McNair remained with the company for seven years and was ranked among the top five producers every year. Acting on behalf of clients in the DC region and throughout the United States, he has excelled in representing public and private companies in leasing transactions valued in excess of $1 billion. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of North Carolina, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors.
William R. Morris III
Morris has concentrated his business activities in institutional investment sales, corporate real estate services and tenant advisory. During his 28-year real estate career, he has represented tenants in hundreds of commercial lease transactions and co-ordinated the sale of commercial office buildings valued in excess of $900 million. Prior to joining Avison Young, he was an Executive Vice-President with Grubb & Ellis. Before that, he was a founding partner of Morris-McNair & Associates, Inc. from 1988 until the company's purchase by the St. Joe Company in October 1999. Morris-McNair & Associates earned a reputation in the DC area as a highly productive boutique brokerage firm specializing in tenant advisory and investment sales. Morris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Tulane University.
Joshua Hartman
Hartman specializes in corporate real estate services and tenant representation with a focus on helping clients achieve efficiency and economy within their real estate portfolios. With a degree in accounting and an extensive background in public accounting, Hartman possesses a strong financial analysis skill set. Prior to joining Avison Young, Hartman was a Senior Vice-President at Grubb & Ellis. Before that, he was a Vice-President in the capital markets group of Jones Lang LaSalle, where he underwrote investment-grade commercial real estate property and oversaw the due diligence phases of the investment sales process. Hartman's extensive real estate investment sales experience enhances his ability to advise clients in the lease negotiation process based upon the impact on building cash flows and property values. He holds a Bachelor degree in accounting from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA and he is certified as a LEED Accredited Professional by the United States Green Building Council.
Will Travis
Travis is a registered architect in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, and has more than 25 years of experience designing, documenting and overseeing the construction of both commercial interiors and base buildings. His expertise involves providing project management services for large, fast-paced projects ranging in size from 20,000 square feet (sf) to 250,000 sf. Prior to joining Avison Young, he was an Executive Vice-President with Grubb & Ellis, where he oversaw hundreds of regional and national construction and architectural projects. Prior to that, Travis was a founding principal with O'Brien Travis Jaccard, where his responsibilities included project architecture and production, construction administration, and document-standard development and adherence. Specializing in budgets, pricing and negotiations, Travis was also the firm's Chief Financial Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from Texas A&M University and is also a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Michael Molinari
Molinari is a trained architect with 12 years of experience in designing, documenting and overseeing the construction of commercial interior space for corporate and association clients with space needs ranging from 5,000 sf to 100,000 sf. He specializes in providing preliminary project planning services including programming, space planning, construction estimating, and project management oversight of design, construction professionals and consultants. Prior to joining Avison Young, Molinari was a project architect at OTJ Architects, Grubb & Ellis and GVA Advantis with responsibilities including schematic design, construction-drawing production, consultant co-ordination and construction oversight. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture from the University of Maryland at College Park.
David W. Roehrenbeck
Roehrenbeck has six years of commercial real estate industry experience. At Avison Young, he will provide clients with his expertise in financial modeling, lease analysis and market research. Before joining Avison Young, Roehrenbeck was a Senior Financial Analyst with Grubb & Ellis, providing transaction services for clients. Prior to that, he spent several years as an acquisitions analyst for commercial properties at two national real estate investment and private equity firms, where he underwrote the closing of $440 million of capital investments. Roehrenbeck holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Virginia and is pursuing his Master of Business Administration degree at Georgetown University.
Wesley Preuss
Preuss will provide financial modeling, lease analysis and market research for Avison Young's clients. She has four years of experience in financial services consulting in New York City and has completed several courses at New York University's Schack Institute of Real Estate. A native Washingtonian and alumna of Holton-Arms School, Preuss graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas Leachman
Leachman will provide detailed research data and information, prepare comprehensive proposals and reports, and assist with various client matters at Avison Young. Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, he gained experience as a sales associate at Johnson & Wimsatt, Inc. A graduate of the Landon School and a native Washingtonian, Leachman holds a Bachelor of Arts in politics from the University of Virginia.
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 800 real estate professionals in 26 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.
• Editors/Reporters: please click on links to view and download head shots
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For further information/comment/photos:
• Sherry Quan, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young:
(604) 647-5098; cell: (604) 726-0959
• Keith Lipton, Principal and Managing Director, Washington DC, Avison Young: (202) 266-8763
• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: (847) 881-2237
• Bruce McNair, Principal, Avison Young: (202) 266-8784
• Bill Morris, Principal, Avison Young: (435) 615-7736 or (202) 262-1869
• Josh Hartman, Principal, Avison Young: (202) 266-8781
• Will Travis, Principal, Avison Young: (202) 266-8783
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: (416) 673-4028
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