Avison Young acquires Starrpoint Commercial Partners, Inc., opens third L.A. office

Purchase expands Avison Young's Southern California presence; industry veteran Randy Starr becomes Principal

TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today that it has acquired Starrpoint Commercial Partners, Inc. A full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm, Starrpoint specializes in the Santa Monica submarket of Los Angeles, with emphasis in the representation of high-tech and media firms that have migrated to Silicon Beach, a moniker for the Santa Monica market.

The purchase further expands Avison Young's market and business-line coverage in the Los Angeles area. The change in ownership brings industry veteran Randy Starr (founder and CEO of Starrpoint) and Tim Dornan (Principal of Starrpoint) to Avison Young's Los Angeles-area operations.

Effective immediately, Starr becomes a Principal of Avison Young and will lead the company's efforts to expand its presence and generate transaction volume in the Silicon Beach area of West Los Angeles. Dornan joins as a Vice-President in the region in support of those efforts and will be heavily involved in additional business development.

The newest American office marks Avison Young's third Los Angeles location and an additional step in the firm's aggressive growth and expansion strategy. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 33 offices in 29 markets and from 300 to more than 950 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

"The Southern California region is a critical growth area for Avison Young. The acquisition of Starrpoint allows Avison Young to partner with one of the most dominant real estate players in the Santa Monica market, as well as immediately create a stronghold and identity associated with some of the most influential and creative transactions that have taken place in the Santa Monica marketplace," comments Rose. "Randy Starr is the consummate real estate professional and while he has been immersed in multiple disciplines in his long career, his true passion has been to focus on the space needs of high-tech, entertainment and media firms. We are thrilled to have Randy and Tim join our Principal-led organization and the growing team of professionals who have decided over the past 12 months to make Avison Young their home."

"We are pleased to have Randy Starr joining us as a Principal. He is a highly experienced professional with deep knowledge of the West Los Angeles markets, especially in the rapidly developing Silicon Beach market," states Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "Randy's background and leadership will be invaluable to our organization as we continue to build our business in L.A. and beyond."

Webb continues: "Furthermore, Starrpoint's representation of building owners will provide Avison Young with an immediate presence on the famed Third Street Promenade, which spans four blocks in the western section of the Santa Monica central business district and is home to such notable retailers as Apple, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, Nike, H&M, and Forever 21. We could not be happier to have Randy and Tim join our team."

Avison Young opened its first Los Angeles office in August 2011 with industry veteran Neil Resnick joining as a Principal, followed by a second Los Angeles office in December 2011 through the acquisition of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc. (Chris Bonbright and team). In March 2012, industry leader Christopher Cooper joined as a Principal and Managing Director of the Southern California region.

"Randy's long history of market dominance and leadership, and the respect he has earned in the Los Angeles real estate community, will be of tremendous value to our firm and to our clients," states Cooper. "Avison Young's presence in Los Angeles has grown from three professionals a year ago to 33 today. We look forward to working with the Starrpoint team."

Effective immediately, Starrpoint Commercial Partners' current office at 301 Arizona Avenue, Suite 303 in Santa Monica will be re-branded as Avison Young.

"Randy has been consistently viewed as an innovator, a trendsetter and someone who has an uncanny ability to read the market," adds Resnick. "Our association goes back to the mid 1980s and it has been a joy to watch Randy take the Santa Monica market by storm. He and Tim joining Avison Young is further testimony to our firm's commitment to grow and gain momentum not only in Southern California, but throughout North America."

Over the past four months, Avison Young has also opened offices in San Francisco, New York, Charleston, SC, and Pittsburgh.

"I am pleased to be part of the growing team that Avison Young is building in the Southern California region. Avison Young's Principal-led culture, whereby solutions are created and executed by the very people who have reputational and financial accountability to clients, is something I look forward to being a part of," says Starr. "Tim and I were impressed with how Avison Young has been strategically building its brand across North America and expanding in all facets of the commercial markets. More importantly, we know our clients stand to benefit the most as we integrate into Avison Young's best-in-class North American brokerage platform."

Randy Starr
Randy Starr brings to Avison Young 24 years of experience in the real estate industry. He has been the pre-eminent broker in Downtown Santa Monica for the past two decades, focusing on all facets of commercial real estate. Adaptive re-use projects transforming Downtown Santa Monica have been his trademark, in addition to adding value in revitalizing the Third Street Promenade and the surrounding area.

Most recently Principal and CEO of Starrpoint Commercial Partners, which he founded in 2010, Starr came to the realization two decades ago that the small geographic pocket centered around the central business district of Santa Monica would evolve into a high-demand location for office users seeking lifestyle choices over highrises and status. During the course of his career, he has been able to play an influential role in shaping the Santa Monica market and raising its profile and desirability among high-tech and creative firms.

During his career, Starr has completed more than 1,000 retail and office lease transactions valued in excess of $2 billion. In addition, he has negotiated strategic investment sales in Downtown Santa Monica that have changed the area's landscape and ranked the Third Street Promenade among the highest-valued commercial real estate in North America. Starr attended Boston University's College of Communication and is a member of the Los Angeles Commercial Real Estate Association (LACRA) and the Santa Monica Economic Development Council.

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 950 real estate professionals in 33 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.

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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SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.