Avison Young Plants Flag in AZ

Rose says the acquisition of GPE provides Avison Young with a strong foundation.

PHOENIX— Avison Young has acquired Phoenix-based GPE Management Services LLC and GPE Commercial Advisors LLC , doing business as The GPE Companies , and opened a new office in Phoenix. Effective immediately, GPE is rebranded as Avison Young and the office is located at 2777 East Camelback Rd., Suite 230. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The newest American office represents Avison Young’s first office in Arizona, the 52nd office in the country, and an additional step in the firm’s ongoing aggressive growth and expansion strategy. Avison Young opened its first western US office in Los Angeles in 2011. During that time, Avison Young has grown to 77 offices in 70 markets and from 300 to more than 2,200 real estate professionals in Canada, the US, Mexico and Europe. The announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young acquiring North Rae Sanders and opening a new office in Coventry, U.K. on January 11, 2016, acquiring Toronto-based property appraisal company Metrix Realty Group Inc. on January 4, 2016, and opening new offices in Memphis on December 7, 2015 and in Mexico City on December 2, 2015. “With Phoenix, Avison Young now has a local presence in all major American markets,” says Hiren Thakar , Avison Young principal and senior vice president of corporate strategy. GPE Companies is a privately held, third-party real estate firm that has been serving a range of clients, from private individual investors to publicly traded corporations to international investment groups, for the past 43 years in Arizona. GPE offered services for all property types, including office, retail, flex/industrial, land and healthcare real estate. For the past four decades, the company has facilitated acquisitions and sales transactions exceeding $2.5 billion in real estate value. GPE also represented 6 million square feet of commercial space under management in the Phoenix metro area. This acquisition brings Avison Young’s total square feet of retail, industrial and office properties under management in North America to approximately 100 million square feet. The change in ownership adds 29 employees to Avison Young’s operations, including David Genovese, Julie Johnson and Alexandra Loye who become principals of Avison Young. Genovese also becomes managing director of the company’s Phoenix office. Ronald Genovese , company founder, also joins the operation. “We are pleased to be opening our first office in Phoenix,” comments Mark E. Rose , chair and CEO of Avison Young. “The acquisition of GPE provides Avison Young with a strong foundation, particularly in terms of brokerage and property management, in Arizona as we begin to roll out our expansion program in the state. With David and the rest of the GPE team on board, we are again adding individuals who are respected for their leadership, extensive industry experience and in-depth local market knowledge. More importantly, we also know that they will fit seamlessly into our principal-led, collaborative culture and provide a superior level of service to clients.” Also joining Avison Young from GPE are Nicholas Pelusio, Bret Isbell, Kevin Helland, Kristie Jones, Brooke Askew-Rossi, Lei Anne Oborne, Dominic Perry, Gail Brown, Jennifer Pliska, Laurie Sandau, Linda Robbins, Tracey Galligan, Tom Kimsey, Marion Chaney, Gregory Leverton, Becky Bishop, Esther Grabowsky, Gina Gringle, Jonathan Collins, Jason Gutierrez, Angela Williams, Jen Day, Amanda Knight, Rogelio Martinez and Jamie Svobodo . Rose tells GlobeSt.com: “Phoenix  is a critical expansion city for Avison Young. As we do in every market, we planted our flag with David, Julie, Alexandra and the team, and we will collaborate on our aggressive growth plan locally and globally.”