Avison Young opens Long Island office, poaches Cushman vet

Avison Young, the Toronto-based commercial brokerage that debuted in New York City in 2011, will open a Long Island office, effective today, and has hired away a veteran Long Islander from Cushman & Wakefield to run it, The Real Deal has learned.

The office, at 68 South Service Road in Melville, opens today, with Ted Stratigos, a Cushman broker for 33 years who last served as executive director of that firm’s Long Island office, at the helm.

Among Stratigos’ deals is a 150,000 lease for electronics giant Leviton’s corporate headquarters, at 210 Service Road, also in Melville.

The appeal of Avison for Stratigos was the “collaborative model” of brokerage as well as the “opportunity to build an office,” he said, adding that the transparency at Avison was also a bonus.

“I think [the collaborative approach] works best for the flow of info… and that results in a better experience for clients,” he said.

The office is Avison’s 50th in the world, according to a statement from the brokerage provided to The Real Deal. The firm also opened a New Jersey office last September.

Avison’s CEO Mark Rose called the new outpost “a natural progression for Avison Young as we look to further strengthen our presence in the critical New York Metropolitan area,” in the statement.

Cushman declined to comment on the move.

Lee & Associates, a Los Angeles-based commercial brokerage which incidentally made its New York City premiere in 2011 as well, also announced plans to open a Long Island office, yesterday. Kelly Koukou, a senior vice president in CBRE’s Long Island office, will run that new location, GlobeSt reported, though no office location was given.