Rick Morris joins Avison Young in Chicago

Office leasing specialist to focus on tenant representation in suburban markets

CHICAGO, Sept. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Danny Nikitas, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company's Chicago office, announced today the strategic hiring of leading office real estate broker Rick Morris.

Effective immediately, Morris becomes a Principal of Avison Young. Based in the firm's suburban Chicago location, he will continue to specialize in tenant representation with a mandate to expand the company's footprint in outlying office nodes.

"We are very excited to have Rick join us in Chicago," comments Nikitas. "He is an experienced advisor in suburban Chicago, where his expertise will greatly enhance our ability to serve clients. With the addition of Rick, our firm is poised to provide an even wider range of services to tenants in suburban Chicago office markets. He has proven expertise in strategic negotiations, in-depth analysis and the development of creative real estate solutions that meet the unique needs of each client."

Morris brings 14 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as a vice-president with Colliers International in Chicago. During his career, he has completed approximately $1 billion worth of office tenant-representation assignments covering more than 5 million square feet. Representing Fortune 1000 companies and other leading firms locally and nationwide, Morris has negotiated transactions for office space ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 square feet.

Adds Nikitas: "Rick has collaborated with many of our professionals over the years and is universally well thought of in the industry. Rick's move to Avison Young is a big win for everyone – our clients, our business partners, our company and Rick himself."

Prior to joining Colliers, Morris spent eight years as a senior member of the office tenant- representation services group at Grubb & Ellis, serving local and national clients. In 2011, he was a finalist for NAIOP's local Office Transaction of the Year award after he completed two of the largest lease deals in Chicago that year.

Morris has acted on behalf of such prestigious firms as Phonak, Sikich, RSA Medical, KIA Motors, Arrow Electronics, APL, SAP, Transnational, Eichrom Technologies, Thyssen Krupp, HA International, Intertek, Vision Solutions, Nationalease, Paychex and Gamma Technologies.

Before entering the real estate industry, Morris was a corporate account manager with technology and products services firm CDW in Chicago, where he secured more than 300 new commercial clients. In this role, he was also responsible for selling a diverse product line to more than 300 of the world's largest and most prominent technology companies, including Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Veritas, Computer Associates and Microsoft.

"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to advance my career at Avison Young and capitalize on the company's unique Principal-led business model," says Morris. "I'm also excited to be part of Avison Young's aggressive expansion program as we continue to widen our tenant-representation and full-service offerings globally. The ongoing growth of Avison Young throughout North America and globally over the past few years has been exciting to witness, and the firm's culture of collaboration across offices and service lines will be a tremendous asset in providing the highest caliber of service possible to my clients."

Morris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in advertising from Michigan State University. He also studied marketing at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Over the past seven years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 78 offices and from 300 to more than 2,400 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

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 2,400 real estate professionals in 78 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, Global 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
• Rick Morris, Principal, Avison Young: 312.508.4916
• 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, 2013 and 2014 and requalified in 2015 to maintain its status as a Best Managed Gold company

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Editors/Reporters
• Please click on link to view and download photo of Rick Morris:
http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Rick_Morris.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

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