Avison Young Adds New Listings, Staff to Growing Boston Operation

BOSTON—It has been barely a year since Avison Young fused with Essex River Ventures to establish a Boston outpost, and less than four months since veteran broker John “Jack” Kerrigan Jr. and several Grubb & Ellis colleagues including Steve Cook arrived on the scene, but the Canadian-based real estate company led locally by Essex River founder John Fenton is in accelerated growth mode and winning a mounting number of quality leasing assignments.

“We’re getting a good reception from landlords,” Kerrigan tells the Real Reporter this week, a notion evidenced by the impressive addresses now flying the Avison Young banner. Fenton reports WGBH has just signed on to have his firm market 75,000 sf of available office space overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension at Brighton Landing in Brighton. Kerrigan’s team has also picked up top-flight assignments in Waltham at 830 Winter St. and One Moody St.
Elsewhere, Avison Young has won the listing as exclusive agent for 54 CambridgePark Dr. in Cambridge; and has assembled a rental roster in excess of 750,000 SF in Wilmington. Altogether, the firm has more than three million sf on the block, much of it along the fertile Route 128 Waltham-to-Woburn stretch. On the investment sales side, a six-acre parcel is being marketed by the firm on behalf of the Concord Elks Club.

To support the growing stripe of business and expand their range of services, Avison Young is in the midst of a recruitment drive, snatching talent from a number of area firms. Driving home the point that Grubb & Ellis is not the only target, Fenton brought in Kevin Malloy as a principal and director of the firm’s Technology Practice Group from Lincoln Property Co., and also hired brokerage assistant Ali Bogdan from CBRE/NE. In recent weeks, the company has signed up other significant personnel, including Director of Operations Pam MacIver (Metric Construction); Director of Asset Management Rob Hawkins (Equity Industrial); Director of Marketing & Research Corrine Lin (Colliers International); and Associate Colin Whitney (Brown Brothers Harriman).

“In the first 100 days, we’ve tripled in size,” says Kerrigan, further reporting that his new company has “a very strong pipeline in terms of new hires and (listings), and we’re adding investment sales capability.” Kerrigan says that the group will continue to draw prized talent because of their business model. “We want all of the brokers to succeed. They’ve got vested interest as owners, similar to a law firm,” relays Kerrigan, whose departure from Grubb & Ellis did send notice that the Northern newcomer was serious about taking on the highly competitive Boston brokerage universe.

The choice of Essex River by Avison Young was a move that initially had many in the Greater Boston CRE community scratching their heads. But Fenton says that much of the confusion was based on a misconception. “Essex River Ventures was a service company and it provided management services to the portfolio that I owned with partners,” says Fenton. “There were separate entities that were set up, and Essex River Ventures managed them. What we did was assign the management contracts from Essex Ventures to Avison Young, and the investments are still (held by) separate investors.” The leasing portfolio also includes Essex River acquisitions of 201-207 South St. in Boston’s Leather District (a joint venture with Cronus Capital) and 299-301 Ballardvale in Wilmington (partnership with the Praedium Group).

Fenton said his goal had been to diversify his organization to include brokerage services, third party project management, evaluation and advisory work. The offer from Canada’s largest independent CRE firm gave him the avenue, and after a period of laying groundwork, the pieces are beginning to fall into place in terms of personnel and leasing assignments. Fenton expects to increase his existing staff of 16 by “two- to three times midway through next year,” including assembling 20 brokers in the next few months. “It’s a pretty attractive situation for brokers,” offers Fenton, crediting Avison Young for providing the resources to make the company a viable option needed to lure emerging and established professionals.