Mark Robbins, Chris O'Leary and Jeff Lindenmeyer join Avison Young in Chicago

News provided by

Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

Dec 04, 2014, 10:00 ET

Highly regarded industry veterans will focus on tenant representation;
Jordan Mellovitz and Justin Decker also join as associates

CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2014 /CNW/ - Danny Nikitas, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Chicago office, announced today the strategic hiring of highly regarded industry veterans Mark Robbins, Chris O'Leary and Jeff Lindenmeyer.

Effective immediately, Robbins, O'Leary and Lindenmeyer become Principals based in Chicago and will focus on Avison Young's collaborative approach to representing office tenants across the United States and globally. In addition, Jordan Mellovitz joins as a Senior Associate and Justin Decker becomes an Associate. Both will work as a team with the three new Principals.

Robbins, O'Leary, Lindenmeyer and Mellovitz bring a combined total of 65 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young. All but Decker, who is new to commercial real estate brokerage, join the company from Cushman & Wakefield in Chicago.

"Mark, Chris, Jeff, Jordan and Justin bring to Avison Young an extremely talented team of veterans and energetic up-and-comers to help an already growing Chicago tenant representation effort," comments Nikitas. "The high-level client base and client service business this group has developed, and continues to build, will fit admirably with our Principal-led culture. We are ecstatic to have them join Avison Young and look forward to their contributions on all levels."

Past and current clients of the team include: DLA Piper, Trunk Club, NORC at the University of Chicago, BDO USA, ION Trading, Lending Solutions Inc., Segall Bryant & Hamill, Unum, and MARC USA.

Avison Young opened its first U.S. office in Chicago in January 2009 and has expanded steadily since then. With the five additions, says Nikitas, the firm is poised to further expand its footprint in the downtown and suburban Chicago office markets while assisting clients on a national and international basis.

"We felt joining Avison Young was the right fit for us because the company has an outstanding Principal-led culture and full-service platform that will enable our existing and new clients to achieve and exceed their office leasing goals," states Robbins. "Speaking for Chris, Jeff and myself, we are thrilled to become Principals and hold ownership positions in the firm while working with Avison Young's proven industry leaders across the U.S., Canada and overseas."

He adds: "We all welcome the opportunity to grow our careers in such a dynamic and innovative organization. The ongoing growth of Avison Young throughout North America and now Europe has been exciting to witness. Avison Young's culture of collaboration across offices and service lines will be a tremendous asset in providing the highest caliber of service possible to clients."

Over the past five-and-a-half years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 62 offices and from 300 to more than 1,700 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young opening a new office in Frankfurt, Germany on December 1, 2014; Avison Young acquiring Miami-based Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group (dba Colliers International South Florida) on December 1, 2014; and Avison Young acquiring Orlando, Florida-based MCRE, LLC (dba Morrison Commercial Real Estate) and opening a new office in Orlando on November 13, 2014.

Biographies

Mark Robbins
Mark Robbins is a real estate professional whose career in commercial brokerage/management spans more than 30 years. He has negotiated in excess of $1 billion dollars of commercial transactions and represented more than 3 million square feet of class A office property. His leadership in tenant representation is based on understanding client objectives, responding with strategic solutions and building deep client relationships. With his participation and background as a founder, past chair, vice-chair and director of The Commercial Network, the world's second-largest commercial real estate network, he brings global experience and organizational strength to his team.

At the beginning of his career, Robbins served on the executive committee of Baird & Warner Commercial. During his 14-year tenure with that firm, he was consistently the top producer among brokers. He then helped launch Transwestern's Midwestern operation based in Chicago. During his 14-year-tenure there, Robbins helped grow the Midwest operation from three to 300 employees and was recognized as Transwestern's top overall producer in 2001, 2005 and 2010. He was the firm's top overall tenant representation broker for eight out of 10 years. Most recently, Robbins was a top producer at Cushman & Wakefield, completing a number of prestigious, high-profile transactions across the globe.

Chris O'Leary
Chris O'Leary brings 15 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young. O'Leary is a national tenant representation advisor who has expertise in negotiating transactions, including lease renewals, restructures and relocations; building purchases; strategic planning for large consolidations; and dispositions.

Recent clients include NORC at the University of Chicago, Trunk Club, Exelon, ION Trading, Loop Capital, and Lending Solutions, Inc. He has also represented numerous public-sector agencies including: The County of Cook, Metra, Housing Authority of Cook County, and Illinois Housing Development Authority. Prior to joining Avison Young, he was a Senior Director at Cushman & Wakefield in Chicago. O'Leary attended Connecticut College where he played varsity basketball.

Jeff Lindenmeyer
Jeff Lindenmeyer brings more than 15 years of real estate and finance experience to Avison Young. He has utilized his background in debt, equity and capital structures to assist corporate clients in the analysis and strategy affecting real estate decisions. His history in managing and placing debt and equity on behalf of funds into office assets provides his clients with unique insight into the capital markets, which affects their leasing decisions.

Lindenmeyer has recently serviced such clients as Trunk Club, NORC at the University of Chicago, Exelon, ION Trading, Lending Solutions Inc., and Life Storage Centers. He has also served not-for-profit clients, including Metra, Housing Authority of Cook County, Illinois Housing Development Authority, and Family Focus. Prior to joining Avison Young, he was a Senior Director at Cushman & Wakefield. Prior to moving to Cushman & Wakefield, Lindenmeyer was an Executive Vice-President and management committee member of Connaught Real Estate Finance LLC, where he ran the asset management division of the private equity firm. In total, he oversaw just under $1 billion of real estate assets throughout the continental U.S. Lindenmeyer attended the University of Illinois, where he played varsity basketball, and attended Harvard Business School's Executive Program.

Jordan Mellovitz
Jordan Mellovitz brings four years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, with a focus on new business development, financial analysis and market research. His strong work ethic and thorough understanding of the Chicago office market have attracted clients of varying sizes to depend on him for all of their real estate needs. Additionally, he has expanded client relationships to other U.S. cities, including New York, Palo Alto and San Francisco.

Mellovitz began his real estate career as an analyst for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group at JP Morgan Chase in Chicago while pursuing his undergraduate degree. He holds a leadership role on the board of directors for the Jewish Council for Youth Services, an $11-million not-for-profit organization. Mellovitz is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Justin Decker
Prior to joining Avison Young, Justin Decker spent nine years working in the field of pre-settlement lending. For seven of those years, he was Director of Operations for one of the first licensed funding companies in Illinois, which maintained more than 1,000 open loans and in excess of $3 million in loan balances. He then spent a year-and-a-half consulting for another pre-settlement lending company, helping it solidify the Chicago market and expand into the central and southern areas of Illinois. Decker holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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 1,700 real estate professionals in 62 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.

For further information/comment/photos:

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

• Danny Nikitas, Principal and Managing Director, Chicago, Avison Young: 312.940.8794

• Mark Robbins, Principal, Avison Young: 312.273.4508

• Chris O'Leary, Principal, Avison Young: 312.273.4509

• Jeff Lindenmeyer, Principal, Avison Young: 312.273.4510

• 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 and 2012 and requalified in 2013 to maintain its status as a Best Managed company.

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Editors/Reporters
• Please click on links to view and download photos of Mark Robbins, Chris O'Leary, Jeff Lindenmeyer, Jordan Mellovitz, Justin Decker
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