Industry leader Rick Kimball appointed Managing Director, New England region

Avison Young Principal John Fenton to focus on investment management platform

TORONTO, Dec. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today the strategic hiring of Rick Kimball as Managing Director of its New England operations.

Effective immediately, Kimball also joins Avison Young as a Principal. A 30-year commercial real estate industry veteran, he was most recently Senior Vice-President at DTZ and, prior to that, President and CEO of GVA Worldwide.

In his new role at Avison Young, Kimball will focus on overseeing the growth and development of Avison Young's New England region, service new and existing clients, and manage the day-to-day operations of the Boston office.

Avison Young Principal John Fenton, former Managing Director of the region, will take on several new responsibilities in New England that will specifically target growth in the firm's investment management business, including asset management, property management and leasing.

"We're thrilled that Rick Kimball has decided to join us as we continue our rapid expansion phase in the United States," comments Rose. "Rick is a proven industry leader and has enjoyed a very successful career in all sectors of commercial real estate. In his capacity as Managing Director, he will lead our New England region into our next phase of growth. Avison Young will be able to capitalize on his excellent recruiting and business-building skills as he drives our New England business into new product lines and submarkets."

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young opening a new office in Denver last week, and the strategic hiring of industry veterans Michael Smith, Scott Jamieson and Brandon Dickason one month ago to further expand the firm's capital markets business in the New England region.

"We're excited to have Rick join our team during this unprecedented period of growth in Avison Young's history. He is a highly regarded real estate professional with a successful track record of building and running great real estate organizations," states Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, for Avison Young. "He has also worked extensively with clients throughout his career in helping them solve complex real estate issues."

"With Rick overseeing day-to-day operations, John Fenton will be able to focus on his core specialties while helping to strengthen our asset management, property management and leasing services in New England. John has played a critical role in the development of Avison Young's Boston-area business, and we're thrilled that he is continuing with us in areas that really cater to his skills and experience."

Avison Young opened its Boston office in October 2010 with the acquisition of Boston-based Essex River Ventures, Inc. (ERV), a real estate investment and property management company founded by Fenton in 2003. Over the past two years, Fenton has led the formation and growth of Avison Young in the Boston market, growing the office from five to 30 employees.

"It's a good time for me to turn the reigns over to Rick as he has spent his career leading and growing commercial real estate companies," says Fenton. "I can now turn my attention back to the investment and asset management business."

Kimball says he looks forward to being part of Avison Young's unique ownership model. He also welcomes the opportunity to expand Avison Young's New England operations by using the firm's collaborative approach to providing comprehensive real estate solutions for clients.

"Avison Young's leadership has a clear vision of why, how, where and with whom it wants to grow the Avison Young platform," says Kimball. "The opportunity to capitalize on the Principal-led structure of the company, build on the momentum that has been created during the past two years in the U.S., and benefit from the sterling reputation established by the Canadian professionals, made joining Avison Young very easy. I look forward to growing our differentiated client-centric service model to new and existing clients in the New England region."

Over the past three and a half years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 43 offices and from 300 to more than 1,100 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

To date in 2012, Avison Young has opened new offices in Reno, NV; Bethesda, MD; San Francisco, New York City, Charleston, SC; Pittsburgh, New Jersey, South Florida, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham, Irvine and Denver. The firm also acquired Maryland-based Realty Management Company, Las Vegas-based Landry & Associates, Los Angeles-based Starrpoint Commercial Partners, Inc., New Jersey-based The Walsh Company, LLC, and Raleigh, NC-based Thomas Linderman Graham Inc. in 2012.

Richard Kimball
Richard Kimball brings to Avison Young three decades of real estate industry experience. He is a senior corporate executive with broad-based experience in all facets of the real estate spectrum, including driving global portfolio strategy, transaction delivery, project management, integrated facility management and outsourcing initiatives. These professional skills have been augmented by strong leadership acumen that has helped grow service-delivery platforms by successfully driving business development, recruiting and strategy at local, regional and international levels.

As Senior Vice-President (2010-2012) at DTZ, a UGL Company (DTZ), Kimball was responsible for all facets of the firm's business, including management of the Boston office and senior broker recruitment nationally. Prior to these roles, he served as President and CEO of GVA Worldwide, where he was responsible for overseeing all operations across North America. Kimball spent 17 years (1982-1999) as Senior Vice-President at CBRE prior to serving as Executive Vice-President and Director of Corporate Services and Business Development for Colliers International (1999-2007), and Executive Vice-President and Director of the Americas for NAI Global (2007-2009). Kimball is a graduate of New England College and holds a Bachelor of Arts in business and economics. He is a member of CoreNet and active in SIOR, ULI and NAIOP.

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

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.

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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

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Industry leader Rick Kimball appointed Managing Director, New England region

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