Avison Young opens New Jersey office

Toronto-based commercial real estate brokerage Avison Young has opened its first New Jersey office, further increasing its presence in the Tri-State area, the company announced today. The opening of the new location follows closely the establishment earlier this year of Avison’s New York City office.

The new office will be headed by new recruit Jeffrey Heller, a former executive vice president at CBRE in New Jersey. Heller completed more than 200 transactions in his last five years at CBRE, with a net value in excess of $750 million, according to the announcement. Before joining CBRE, he served as an executive director in the New Jersey office of Cushman & Wakefield for 15 years.

“The opening of our first office in New Jersey is an important part of our strategy to establish a strong presence in key markets throughout the U.S.,” said Mark Rose, the firm’s chairman and CEO. “One of the largest office and industrial markets in the country, New Jersey presents significant opportunities to effectively introduce Avison Young’s differentiated approach to principal-led client service.”

The Canadian brokerage is currently locked in a legal battle with BGC Partners, while filed suit against Avison in August claiming the firm was poaching brokers from its recently acquired subsidiary Grubb & Ellis. As The Real Deal previously reported, Avison is accused of luring 16 Grubb brokers from offices all over the country after Grubb filed for bankruptcy in February. – Katherine Clarke