Avison Young opens new office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Leading Canadian commercial real estate firm continues its aggressive expansion in U.S. by opening 15th location outside Canada; George Kingsley becomes Principal and Managing Director, Pittsburgh

TORONTO, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today the opening of a new office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The newest American office marks Avison Young's 15th location outside of Canada and an additional step in the firm's aggressive growth and expansion strategy. Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 32 offices in 29 markets and from 300 to more than 950 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

Effective immediately, five real estate professionals form Avison Young's new Pittsburgh office. They were most recently with Grubb & Ellis in Pittsburgh.

George "Duke" Kingsley, Bradley Totten and James Kelly join Avison Young as Principals. Kingsley also becomes Managing Director of the new Pittsburgh office and will focus his efforts on overseeing the growth and development of Avison Young's presence in the Pittsburgh region, as well as servicing new and existing clients and managing the day-to-day operations of the office.

Both Totten and Kelly will serve as Senior Vice-Presidents in the Pittsburgh office. Totten will focus on office tenant representation, agency brokerage and corporate services, while Kelly will specialize in investment sales and agency leasing. Brandon Snyder and Michael Downey also join as Vice-Presidents in the Pittsburgh office, with Snyder focusing his efforts on industrial sales and leasing and Downey on office sales and leasing.

"As part of our strategic plan to expand our services across the U.S., we view the opportunity to open in Pittsburgh as important to the growth of our company," comments Rose. "Duke Kingsley is one of the most well-known and respected brokers in the Pittsburgh market and is ideally suited to oversee our efforts and lead the way in the Pennsylvania region. Given their extensive industry experience, market knowledge and passion for the business, Duke, Brad, Jim and their team will form a solid base in Pittsburgh from which Avison Young will build."

Rose continues: "With all of our recent new hires throughout the Northeast U.S., especially in the New York area this past month, adding a team of this calibre in Pittsburgh will allow us to even better serve global and national clients with real estate requirements in the Pennsylvania market."

Today's announcement follows the opening of new Avison Young offices in New York, San Francisco and Charleston, South Carolina in the last two months.

"We look forward to building our Pittsburgh operation to complement our rapidly growing Northeast U.S.-based business," notes Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "Duke is a proven leader and will not only continue his ongoing work with key clients but, as Managing Director, will help expand our business throughout the Pennsylvania region, which is home to numerous corporate headquarters. We are very pleased to have Duke and his team join our organization as we continue to build on the momentum the company has achieved with its principal-led, client-centric platform."

"It is an exciting time to be joining Avison Young and we look forward to growing this regional operation and building upon the company's already impressive track record," says Kingsley. "Avison Young has assembled a leading management team and I am pleased to be afforded the opportunity to establish Avison Young's presence in Pittsburgh."

"As a debt-averse organization with a strong balance sheet, the company has tremendous energy and a culture that promotes collaboration and knowledge-sharing. We look forward to working with our new colleagues to achieve the company's goal of building the leading global real estate solutions company by aligning the interests of our clients with the skill sets and intellectual capital of our professionals," he adds.

Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh is situated within 500 miles of more than half the U.S. population and less than 90 minutes flying time from 20 states and Canada. With a metropolitan area population of approximately 2.4 million, Pittsburgh has the nation's second-busiest inland port. The city ranks sixth in the nation as home to Fortune 500 companies, and more than 70 companies with $1 billion or more in sales operate in the region. Pittsburgh International Airport has been ranked as best in the U.S. by J.D. Power & Associates, and the region is home to 34 colleges and universities, including Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, which are consistently rated among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Pittsburgh was also ranked among the top five most livable cities in the 1983, 1985, 1989 and 2007 editions of the Places Rated Almanac.

Biographies

George "Duke" Kingsley
George H. Kingsley was most recently Executive Vice-President and Managing Director in Grubb & Ellis' Pittsburgh office. Before that, he was Senior Vice-President for the company in Pittsburgh, specializing in landlord representation, tenant representation and consulting, strategic real estate planning and implementation, site selection and financial analysis. He had been with Grubb & Ellis' predecessor, Oliver Realty, in Pittsburgh since 1975. At Grubb & Ellis, Kingsley was consistently a Circle of Excellence award winner and a member of the Executive Committee of the President's Council.

During his 37-year career in the real estate industry, Kingsley has negotiated leases for several million square feet of office space for both landlords and tenants. Past and current clients include PPG Industries, Inc., Armada Supply Chain Solutions and the Hillman Company.

Kingsley is a past board member of Junior Achievement and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JRDF), and current member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). He has been affiliated with the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and the Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Villanova University in Philadelphia.

Bradley Totten
Bradley Totten brings to Avison Young 28 years of experience in the real estate industry. He was most recently a Senior Vice-President at Grubb & Ellis. Totten has consistently provided landlord agency leasing services throughout his career to owners of prominent Pittsburgh central business district office buildings, most notably PPG Place, K&L Gates Center and the Koppers Building. He has also provided tenant evaluation services to numerous Pittsburgh-based companies, including H. J. Heinz Company, Federated Investors, Del Monte Foods and Lanxess Corporation.

In multiple years from 1996 to 2010, Totten was named to Grubb & Ellis' Circle of Excellence, which is awarded to the top 100 producers at Grubb & Ellis nationally. He consistently led the Pittsburgh office in annual production. Additionally, in 2004, he was recognized as one of the Top 10 national brokers for outstanding production. Totten holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

James Kelly
James Kelly has been in the commercial real estate investment business for 35 years. This experience has incorporated all aspects of the business - including appraisal, construction, finance, development, sales, leasing, acquisitions and brokerage. Most recently Vice-President, Investments at Grubb & Ellis (2004-2012), Kelly has been involved in more than $750 million in real estate transactions during his career. He was awarded the 2011 Top Producer award at Grubb & Ellis Pittsburgh and Top 50 nationally in 2011. He also received the 2011 CoStar Broker Award.

Past and current clients include: Catan's Craft Stores, AT&T, Levin Furniture, Phillips and Associates, St. Clair Hospital and Sunrise Development. Property types have included office, retail, medical, industrial, apartments, general commercial, hotel/motels and development land. Previous industry experience includes: President/owner/founder of Keystone Realty Group and Affiliates, and Vice-President of acquisitions/finance for American Equity Corporation.

During his career, Kelly has been affiliated with NAIOP, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers (AIREA), and has received awards from SIOR and CoStar. He has been involved in numerous community and charitable organizations, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Temple University in Philadelphia.

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 950 real estate professionals in 32 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 photos of George Kingsley, Bradley Totten and James Kelly
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/George%20%28Duke%29%20Kingsley.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Bradley%20Totten.jpg
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/James%20Kelly.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: (604) 647-5098; cell: (604) 726-0959 
  
  
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: (416) 673-4028 
  
  
• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: (312) 957-7610 
  
  
• George "Duke" Kingsley, Principal and Managing Director, Pittsburgh, Avison Young: (412) 944-2131 
  
  
• Bradley Totten, Principal, Avison Young: (412) 944-2132 
  
  
• James Kelly, Principal, Avison Young: (412) 944-2133

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 

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SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.