Top leasing team joins Avison Young in Washington, DC

Industry leaders to launch firm's agency leasing business in nation's capital

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 15, 2014 /CNW/ - Keith Lipton, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the firm's Washington, DC region, announced today the strategic hiring of a new five-member agency leasing team to launch the company's landlord representation business in the nation's capital. 

Effective immediately, Eli Barnes, Will Stern, Jonathan Wellborn and Greg Tomasso join Avison Young as Principals, while Kate Oelschig becomes a Senior Associate.  Barnes, Stern, Wellborn and Oelschig join Avison Young from Cassidy Turley, and Tomasso comes from Akridge.

"The addition of this DC-focused landlord team fills a critical component of Avison Young's client services in the Washington metropolitan region," comments Lipton. "These highly-skilled professionals will build Avison Young's downtown DC agency leasing practice; they have leased premier projects for some of the city's top owners and institutional clients, and we couldn't be more excited to partner with a dynamic team of this caliber."

Lipton continues: "In less than five years since we established the Washington, DC office of Avison Young, we've grown our DC Metro agency leasing portfolio to nearly 30 million square feet.  Eli, Will, Greg and Jonathan and the rest of their team will allow us to offer our clients the same high level of service downtown that we currently provide in Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland. More importantly, each of these individuals will bring a commitment to excellent client service that aligns perfectly with Avison Young's Principal-driven, client-centric model."

Collectively, the team has represented clients such as: ASB Real Estate Investments; Beacon Capital Partners; Clarion Partners; Edens; First Potomac; Jamestown; Liberty Property Trust; Mitsui Fudosan America; MRP Realty; Paramount Group; Penzance; Rockrose Development Corp.; TIAA-CREF; TIER REIT; USAA; Washington Real Estate Investment Trust; Generali Immobiliare and Rockwood Capital.

"Our team comprises collaborative partners with a history of success leasing new developments, redevelopments and relet office buildings in Washington, DC," states Wellborn. "We are excited about Avison Young's Principal-led culture and the company's commitment to integrated client services, both of which are in line with how we approach our business and our clients."

Avison Young opened its first Washington, DC office in January 2010 when Lipton joined as a Principal to help launch the company's brokerage business in Metropolitan Washington. Since that time, Lipton has spearheaded the acquisitions of Appian Realty Advisors, LLC, Millennium Realty Advisors, LLC, Realty Management Company and McShea & Company, Inc., and opened new offices in Tysons Corner, VA (2010) and Suburban Maryland (2012).

"The opportunity to merge our team with the Avison Young team is one that we simply could not pass up," adds Tomasso. "Avison Young offers the perfect platform from which to provide first-class service to existing and future clients. The timing of this move could not be better, and we look forward to hitting the ground running." 

Over the past five and a half years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 60 offices and from 300 to more than 1,600 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

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Biographies

Eli Barnes
Eli Barnes brings more than 10 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young. Prior to joining the firm, Barnes served as a Managing Director and Principal at Cassidy Turley, focusing on landlord representation in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Throughout his career, he has helped generate more than $1 billion in lease value for his clients.

Before moving to Cassidy Turley in 2008, Barnes served as a Vice-President in the leasing and management group at Jones Lang LaSalle, where he was recognized as the company's DC/Virginia/Maryland Leasing Professional of the Year for 2005 and was elected into the Jones Lang LaSalle Club in 2007. Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Barnes worked as a market manager for the Connecticut and Rhode Island markets of Long Trail Brewing Company. Barnes is currently finalizing his Master of Business Administration at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; he also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Virginia, where he was a four-year scholarship recipient as well as captain of the golf team.

Will Stern
Will Stern brings 12 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young. Prior to joining the company, he served as a Managing Director and Principal with Cassidy Turley's Washington, DC office, focusing on landlord representation in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Throughout his career, he has helped generate more than $1 billion in lease value for his clients.

Prior to joining Cassidy Turley in 2008, he served for five years as a Vice-President in the agency leasing group at Jones Lang LaSalle. In 2006, he spent a year working for Jones Lang LaSalle's national office group in London, England. Prior to his tenure at Jones Lang LaSalle, he worked as a financial analyst for Northwestern Investment Management in McLean, VA, where he was responsible for financial and real estate modeling. Stern holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a double major in finance and international business from George Washington University.

Greg Tomasso
Greg Tomasso brings 15 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young. Prior to joining the firm, he served as the Managing Director of Akridge's commercial office leasing department in Washington, DC. He was responsible for marketing Akridge's available office and retail space, as well as lease negotiation, investor reporting, tenant and client relations, financial analysis, and the management of leasing staff.

Additionally, he served on Akridge's design and construction committee, responsible for identifying and developing new design-and-construction concepts and strategies. During his eight-year tenure there, Akridge's office portfolio enjoyed an annual average occupancy level of more than 90%. He has represented landlords in lease transactions for commercial office space since 1999, previously serving as an Associate Director of Brokerage at Jones Lang LaSalle and as an Assistant Vice-President at Spaulding & Slye Colliers. Prior to working in the commercial real estate industry, he worked for MBNA Bank. Tomasso holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Washington College. He has been recognized as a member of the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, DC (CREBA) Multi-Million Dollar Club every year since 2007.

Jonathan Wellborn
Jonathan Wellborn brings more than 10 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young.  A native Washingtonian, he has worked with local and institutional clients and specializes in leasing, repositioning assets, marketing strategy, letter of intent/lease transactions, investor reporting and financial analysis.

Immediately prior to joining Avison Young, Wellborn spent 10 years at Cassidy Turley, most recently as a Managing Director focused on landlord representation in Washington, DC. He began his career at Cassidy & Pinkard as the market analyst concentrated on downtown Washington, DC. Wellborn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been recognized as a member of the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association of Greater Washington, DC (CREBA) Multi-Million Dollar Club every year since 2010 and serves on the Board of Directors.

Kate Oelschig
Kate Oelschig joins Avison Young from Cassidy Turley's Washington, DC office. She started in the firm's marketing department in 2009, focusing on branding, marketing strategies and broker outreach. In 2013, she became an Associate in the firm's landlord representation group and utilized her marketing skills to help create and implement targeted leasing strategies for her clients. Oelschig holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Southern Methodist University.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young opening a new office in Cleveland, OH on September 23, 2014, and the firm acquiring New Jersey-based asset management firm Kwartler Associates on September 18, 2014.

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 1,600 real estate professionals in 60 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 Eli Barnes, Will Stern, Jonathan Wellborn, Greg Tomasso, Katherine Oelschig
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Eli_Barnes.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Stern_Will.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Greg_Tomasso.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Jonathan_Wellborn.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Kate_Oelschig.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

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

• Keith Lipton, Principal and Managing Director, Washington, DC region, Avison Young: 202.644.8683

• Eli Barnes, Principal, Avison Young: 202.644.8550

• Greg Tomasso, Principal, Avison Young: 202.644.8551

• Jonathan Wellborn, Principal, Avison Young: 202.644.8552

• Will Stern, Principal, Avison Young: 202.644.8553

www.avisonyoung.com

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SOURCE: Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

For further information: Media Relations: Sherry Quan, 604.647.5098 or 604.726.0959, [e-mail]