Harrison Street awards Avison Young exclusive property management of 24-building, 1.5-msf medical office portfolio

Fast-growing real estate services firm expands with 35 local hires,
now manages 10 million square feet in the DC region

WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 21, 2016 /CNW/ - Avison Young, the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today that it has been named by Chicago-based Harrison Street Real Estate Capital as the exclusive property manager for a 1.5-million-square-foot (msf), 24-building medical office portfolio that includes properties in Northern Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and suburban Chicago.

As a result of this assignment, Avison Young now manages nearly 10 msf of space in the DC region, including 3.5 msf of institutional-quality medical office space.

"Given the geographic and market complexity of this assignment, it was essential to us that any real estate partner understand the diverse tenant needs involved, whether working with a small physicians group or one of the biggest hospital systems in the country," comments Harrison Street Senior Vice-President Brian Mutchler.

He adds that in addition to many other factors, Avison Young was given the property management assignment as a result of the firm's dominance in the healthcare real estate sector – such as managing a majority of the properties that house Inova Health System's Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

"Having access to Avison Young's seasoned talent roster, including its collective knowledge gained from the firm's existing healthcare management portfolio, is paramount to our commitment as owners to provide best-in-class services to our healthcare tenants," he says.

Harrison Street acquired the bulk of the properties from WRIT in 2013 before purchasing the remaining assets in a $28.5-million sale brokered by Avison Young in 2015.

Anchor tenants of the portfolio include several premier health systems, including Inova Health System, Children's National Health System, LifeBridge Health and Shady Grove Fertility. The assignment significantly expands Avison Young's market and business line coverage in the Metro Washington area.

Coinciding with the assignment, Avison Young also announced today 35 hires, including industry veterans Mark Johnson, who joins Avison Young as Executive Vice-President of healthcare services in the Washington Metro Area; and Richard Fetter, who becomes a Vice-President and General Manager of healthcare services in the DC region.

"The addition of the Harrison Street portfolio strategically expands and strengthens our platform to be the largest manager of medical office space in the region," states Avison Young Principal Donna Kay. "Furthermore, being able to draw upon Mark's expertise in this field will afford our clients a wide array of best-in-practice services."

Johnson brings more than 25 years of healthcare real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as Managing Principal for Cushman & Wakefield's healthcare practice group in Washington. In his new position, he will provide specialized expertise to healthcare real estate owners and providers while supporting property management and advisory services nationally.

Fetter brings to Avison Young more than 25 years of property management experience, including 16 years managing healthcare assets. He was formerly with Cushman & Wakefield in Virginia, where he served as General Manager for the Harrison Street DC portfolio.

Avison Young has added more than 250 employees in the DC region over the past five years. Today's announcement bookends a dominant 2015 for Avison Young's healthcare services real estate specialists in Washington, who brokered $350 million of medical and seniors' housing transactions in the past year.

"The success of our healthcare services platform is driven by our unique culture of collaboration. It's a fundamental difference that keeps us focused on clients so that we can provide the best market intelligence and the best results for property owners," adds Avison Young Principal Jim Kornick, who is also a member of the firm's healthcare services and capital markets teams.

Over the past seven years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 75 offices and from 300 to more than 2,100 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

About Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC
Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC ("Harrison Street") is one of the leading real estate investment management firms that offers innovative investment products across both private and public real estate segments. The firm has created a series of differentiated investment products across multiple risk/return platforms. Its 70-plus person team is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Currently, the firm and its affiliates manage approximately $7.9 billion in assets on behalf of some of the world's largest institutional investors.

About Avison Young
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 2,100 real estate professionals in 75 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 the link to view and download a photo of select Metro Washington Harrison Street assets: 2440 M St., NW in Washington, DC (top left); Ashburn Professional Center in Ashburn, VA (top right); Woodholme Professional Center in Pikesville, MD (bottom left); and 9850 Key West Avenue in Rockville, MD (bottom right)
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Harrison-St-Portfolio.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, Principal and Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; cell: 604.726.0959
• Donna Kay, Principal, Avison Young: 301.718.9169
• Mark Johnson, Executive Vice-President of healthcare services, Washington, DC, Avison Young: 847.849.1907
• Jim Kornick, Principal, Avison Young: 202.644.8681
• Josh Peyton, Principal and Managing Director, Washington, DC region, Avison Young: 202.644.8688
• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young was a winner of Canada's Best Managed Companies program in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and has demonstrated its commitment to the program and successfully reapplied for the designation as a Gold Standard winner in 2014.

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SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

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