LOS ANGELES—Jonathan Larsen has joined Avison Young as principal and managing director in the firm's West Los Angeles office. Larsen will focus on the downtown, tri-cities, West San Fernando Valley and Ventura markets and work with local and national tenants to provide occupancy and tenant representation, sales and leasing services.

Coming to the company from DTZ, where he served as principal and regional managing director, Larsen was attracted to Avison Young's client-centric company culture. “In the commercial real estate business, every one is trying to be the biggest and the best, but sometimes, that is best for the investors and not best for the client,” Larsen tells GlobeSt.com. “Although Avison Young is the fastest growing real estate firm, it is growing in a way of measured growth by adding senior partners in strategic cities in the US and Canada. They are doing something very unique by investing in the best of class. Rather than buying companies, Avison Young is focused on buying individual brokers or teams that fit the company culture and can service prestigious clients, and who want to be able to navigate the resources within their organization to service the client first. I haven't seen that in a long time. That is really the reason that I went to Avison Young.”

Larsen has a storied 27-year career in the industry, working with major players like CBRE, Transwestern and Trammell Crow. He spent three years at DTZ, when it was still Cassidy Turley, launching the L.A. office and serving on the board of directors. Prior to his stint at DTZ, Larsen served as executive managing director and a board member at Transwestern and a principal at Trammell Crow, where he spent 11 years of his career. But, it was clear when he was at CBRE, where he got his start, that he was on the road to success when he consistently ranked in the top 10% in the nation.

Larsen will leverage this impressive experience to continue to propel Avison Young's expansion. “My goals are to continue to get best of class recruits and people who fit into the culture, who are customer-driven and not there to get big money but to service the client and build a legacy in their career,” he says. Larsen has a Bachelor of Science in finance and marketing from the University of Washington.

Larsen brings with him his DTZ colleague Chandler Larsen, who joins Avison Young as an associate. The two will work together to service office leasing clients in the Southern California territories.