Avison Young hires prominent office leasing professional John Ryan III to expand New York City transaction services platform

Ryan joins as a Principal specializing in tenant and landlord representation

NEW YORK CITY, Feb. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Greg Kraut, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's New York City office, announced today that highly regarded office leasing professional John Ryan III has joined the firm to further grow the company's transaction services platform.

Effective immediately, Ryan joins Avison Young as a Principal and will be based in the company's New York City office.

Most recently a Managing Director in the New York office of Jones Lang LaSalle, Ryan has 23 years of experience in tenant and landlord representation. Throughout his career, he has managed and executed numerous significant transaction assignments in the New York City market, including the representation of Bank of America in the company's 1.6-million-square-foot (msf) lease and joint venture with The Durst Organization at One Bryant Park, as well as the bank's 320,000-sf lease at 50 Rockefeller Plaza. Additional noteworthy transactions include the representation of China Center/Vantone in a 200,000-sf new lease at One World Trade Center, and UBS in a 890,000-sf lease at 1285 Avenue of the Americas, whereby Ryan represented the landlord.

At Avison Young, Ryan will focus on providing strategic direction and integrated transaction brokerage services for the firm's key landlord and tenant clients.

"John has forged an impressive career as one of the industry's most accomplished and strategic office leasing professionals, as evidenced by his strong track record effectively representing high-profile tenants and landlords in numerous significant and complex transaction assignments," comments Kraut. "As we look to further deepen our bench of industry-leading professionals that embody Avison Young's commitment to best-in-class client service, we are very pleased to welcome someone of John's caliber to our team."

Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle's tenant representation group in 1993, Ryan worked as Director of Leasing at Compass Management and Leasing, where he was responsible for managing Equitable Life's 8-msf real estate portfolio in the Tri-State area. He also previously served as an asset manager for Sumitomo Realty & Development, where he oversaw the company's Northeast U.S. portfolio. Ryan began his career as a real estate broker at Grubb & Ellis in New York City.

In recognition of Ryan's excellence in production, Jones Lang LaSalle honored Ryan with its "Top Gun" award the last three years. A member of the Real Estate Board of New York, Ryan holds a Bachelor's degree in policy and management studies from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, as well as a Master's degree in business administration from New York University's Stern School of Business.

"The positive trajectory of Avison Young's growth nationally, as well as in the New York City market where the firm has established a high-quality reputation in a relatively short period of time, has been very exciting to watch. Additionally, I was drawn to the company's emphasis on culture and its client-first mentality, which I see as being synergistic to my own business approach," says Ryan. "I am thrilled by the opportunity to join Avison Young as a Principal and I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to generate creative solutions for our clients."

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 1,100 real estate professionals in 43 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 link to view and download photo of John Ryan III:
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/JohnRyan.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

New York Media Relations:
• Christa Segalini, Vice-President, Beckerman PR: [phone]
• Elliot Baum, Principal and Vice-President of Marketing, New York, Avison Young: [phone]

Avison Young Media Relations:
• Sherry Quan, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: [phone]; cell: [phone]
• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: [phone]
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: [phone]

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young is a winner of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies program for 2011, sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post and Queen's School of Business

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

SOURCE: Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

For further information:

Media Relations:
Christa Segalini, Beckerman PR
[phone]; [phone] cell
email: [e-mail]

Sherry Quan, Avison Young
[phone]; [phone] cell
email: [e-mail]