Many of you know who Jim Kerrigan and David Horowitz are in the data center commercial real estate industry. Top 5 commercial Real Estate brands we commonly think of are companies we all see listing signs posted on buildings.
So Jim and David joined Avison Young.
Who is Avison Young? I ran a search on Data Center Knowledge to see if Rich Miller had a post on them. And nothing. OK, so I am not the only one who hasn't written on Avison Young.
Your search - avison young - did not match any documents.
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I asked a local friend who works in commercial real estate if he knew Avison Young. His response, "Oh yeh, Avison is part of the top 4." Avison is in the top 4 commercial real estate companies. i guess being in Seattle, we are used to having lots of Canadians here, so I am not surprised there is more awareness of a Canadian company.
Avison Young about page gives background.
In a little more than 30 years we have grown to become the largest independently-owned commercial real estate services firm in Canada, and our reach now extends across the United States. It is our commitment to our clients to innovate and ensure the highest levels of quality, service and performance that build relationships and create exceptional value.
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In early 2009, Avison Young opened its first U.S. office in Chicago, followed by new offices in Washington, DC; Lethbridge, AB and Toronto North (2009); Atlanta, Houston, Tysons Corner, VA, Boston and Guelph, ON (2010); Dallas, Los Angeles and Las Vegas (2011).
OK, Avision is huge in Canada. Relevant to the US commercial real estate market, but has very little presence in our current mindset of data center companies.
So, let's jump to parts of the press release that announces Jim and David joining Avison Young.
Industry leaders Jim Kerrigan and David Horowitz join Avison Young in Chicago
Data center and mission critical facilities experts join as Principals
Chicago, IL — Michael McKiernan, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company’s Chicago office, announced today that data center experts Jim Kerrigan and David Horowitz have joined Avison Young’s brokerage operations in Chicago.
Effective immediately, Kerrigan and Horowitz join Avison Young as Principals and will lead the company’s data center specialty efforts. They will continue to focus on assisting clients in Canada and the U.S. with their data center space needs.
I ran a search on Avison Young's Professional site on data centers. Jim and David are in the database and when this press release goes live on Feb 13, 2012 it will have Jim and David's phone ringing.
As we all know data centers break the commercial real estate thinking focused on space - as power, cooling, networking, and space for racks of equipment are the customer needs.
“More than 50% of companies run out of space due to power and cooling constrictions that could easily be avoided with the proper real estate strategy. Jim and David understand that the approach to data center planning has little to do with square footage and everything to do with the proper planning for racks and kilowatts.”
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“To become a Principal in such a dynamic, growing company as Avison Young represents a significant opportunity for me at this point in my career,” notes Horowitz. “I look forward to continuing to work with Jim Kerrigan as we leverage the firm’s Canadian platform and utilize the experience of Earl Webb, Avison Young’s President, U.S. Operations, to help our clients with their strategic data center investments across North America.”
I had a chance to talk to Jim this weekend and he is excited to build a team that has many other experienced professionals besides Jim and David. Here is a quote from Jim that gives you an idea of the services Jim is offering.
“The consolidation of our competitors into publicly-traded entities has eliminated options for clients seeking knowledge and advice from privately-held real estate consultancies. This situation is exacerbated by a lack of highly-trained and skilled experts who don't respond to groupthink or the need to respond to publicly-traded deadlines. A number of Canadian-based companies are looking for logical data center solutions but have not found the necessary guidance to solve their problems. We understand client concerns across Canada and the U.S. and can help create individualized solutions.”
The combination of private company. Canadian clients, and experienced data center professionals has the potential to drive change in the data center industry. The smart will react quickly to changes. Are you ready to change?
