Industry leader Gail Crowder joins Avison Young in Atlanta

Office-tenant representation specialist becomes a Principal

ATLANTA, GA, May 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Steve Dils, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Atlanta office, announced today that leading real estate professional Gail Crowder has joined Avison Young's brokerage operations in Atlanta.

Effective immediately, Crowder joins Avison Young as a Principal. She will focus on her specialty of office-tenant representation and provide multi-market advisory services for corporate and international clients. She will also continue her significant work with foreign governments, assisting them with the locating and selection of Consulate offices and other regional premises.

"I am very pleased to be reunited with Gail at Avison Young after having worked with her previously," comments Dils. "A highly regarded industry leader, Gail has been a top producer for many years and will fit in perfectly here at Avison Young, given her high standards of customer service, ethics and character."

Crowder brings nearly three decades of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young. She was most recently with Grubb & Ellis in Atlanta where she served as a Senior Vice-President in the tenant advisory group as well as national account manager. During her tenure there she negotiated $483 million worth of sales and lease transactions in the Atlanta area and throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis, Crowder spent 11 years as a Vice-President and associate broker with the Simpson/Antonio Group in Atlanta, completing $48 million in sale and lease transactions. She began her commercial real estate career as an assistant leasing manager with A.G. Spanos Development, leasing up and managing approximately 620,000 square feet of office space.

Crowder's major corporate clients have included: Wells Fargo Bank, MassMutual Financial Group, Rollins, MetLife, SunTrust Bank, United Technologies Corp., The Hartford, and Northern Trust Bank. She has also acted on behalf of foreign governments and international institutions, including Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Province of Quebec and the Rhone-Alpes Region of France, as well as Alliance Française d'Atlanta, the French Olympic Committee, the German-American Chamber of Commerce and the Goethe-Zentrum/German Cultural Center.

"I am delighted to join Avison Young, with its powerful combination of client-focused strategic initiatives and top-drawer talent that is capable of transforming client goals into reality," says Crowder. "Avison Young melds a strong corporate platform with entrepreneurial spirit, great vision and leadership. I look forward to continuing my career here."

During her career, Crowder has garnered numerous awards, including Top 10 Producer (1995-2009, 2011) and Top Producer status (1997, 2001) with Grubb & Ellis/Atlanta. She also earned entry into the firm's Circle of Excellence five times, ranked among Competitive Edge's Top Women in Business 2000, and has been honored for the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Top Office Leasing Deals (1987, 1999, 2001) and Best in Atlanta Real Estate (honorable mention, 1996). In 2005, the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors bestowed her with its Phoenix Award.

Crowder has also held board and executive positions with a number of industry groups, including CoreNet Global's Atlanta Chapter; Georgia Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR); Grubb & Ellis Eastern Region Office Council and National Brokerage Advisory Council; Alliance Française d'Atlanta; and the French-American Chamber of Commerce. In addition, she is a life member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors. Crowder holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism and business administration (magna cum laude) from the University of Georgia. Her other educational qualifications include membership in SIOR and candidate status for CoreNet Global MCR.  She holds a real estate broker license in six states.

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 900 real estate professionals in 30 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 link to view and download photo of Gail Crowder
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Gail_Crowder.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, Nat'l Director of Communications & Media Relations: (604) 647-5098; (604) 726-0959
• Steve Dils, Principal and Managing Director, Atlanta: (404) 865-3666
• Gail Crowder, Principal, Avison Young: (404) 865-3680
• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: (312) 957-7610
• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: (416) 673-4028

www.avisonyoung.com

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SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.