Purchase further galvanizes Avison Young’s footprint in Florida; 19
members join

TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm,
announced today that it has acquired Tampa, FL-based Lane Witherspoon & Carswell Commercial Real Estate Advisors and its sister company L&W Commercial Property Management, and opened a new office in Tampa, Florida.

Lane Witherspoon & Carswell Commercial Real Estate Advisors and L&W
Commercial Property Management, founded by Ken Lane, Clay Witherspoon, Trey Carswell and Suzi Dixon in 2007, is one of the leading commercial real estate service providers
in the Central and West Coast regions of Florida. Services provided
include office, industrial and retail leasing for landlord and tenant
representation, seller and buyer representation for building sales, and
full property management and property management accounting services.

The newest American office represents Avison Young’s 36th office outside
of Canada, the company’s fifth office in Florida, and an additional
step in the firm’s ongoing aggressive growth and expansion strategy.

Over the past four years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 51
offices in 40 markets and from 300 to more than 1,300 real estate
professionals across Canada and the U.S.

The acquisition expands Avison Young’s market coverage beyond South
Florida to include Central and West Florida, and adds a sizable
portfolio including 6.3 million square feet (msf) of agency listings
and more than 2.3 msf of property management assignments.

Effective immediately, 19 members join Avison Young, three of whom
become Principals of Avison Young: Lane, Witherspoon and Carswell. Lane
and Witherspoon also become Co-Managing Directors and will oversee the
growth and development of the company’s presence in Tampa as well as
manage the day-to-day operations of the office.

“In less than 11 months, we are launching our fifth Avison Young office
in the Florida region,” comments Rose. “Our strategic plan for
system-wide expansion through the assemblage of a hand-selected team of
the area’s leading and like-minded industry professionals, such as the
members from Lane Witherspoon & Carswell Commercial Real Estate
Advisors, will enhance our platform and provide our clients with the
resources and market knowledge to make informed decisions regarding
their real estate needs.”

Rose continues: “Along with South Florida and Orlando, the Tampa Bay
area represents one of the three major markets in the state, and a
gateway to make inroads into the Central Florida/Orlando market.
Tampa’s significant population base, the third largest in the state,
and mass appeal to both ownership and tenants make Tampa a natural hub
for Avison Young to have a home base from which to serve our growing
client base.”

Also joining Avison Young from Lane Witherspoon & Carswell and L&W
Commercial Property Management are: Dixon (Director of Property
Management-Tampa), Cindy Baxter (Marketing Coordinator), Andrew Boczer (Building Engineer), Lauren Coup (Vice-President), Timothy Hain (Vice-President), Clifford Lombardo (Lead Engineer), Leonard Maldonado (Building Engineer), Kimberly Mastin (Assistant Property Manager), Shannon Pitts (Assistant Property Manager), Dimas Pulgar (Building Engineer), Paul Royak (Senior Associate), Frank Shelton (Chief Engineer), L.B. Sierra, Jr. (Associate), Lauren Smith (Assistant Property Manager), Sara Sneen (Senior Property Manager) and Pedro Sojo (Building Engineer).

“The opening of the Tampa office further accentuates our company’s
mission to expand services in key geographic locations, and this
acquisition ensures a holistic presence throughout the state of
Florida,” states Earl Webb, Avison Young’s President, U.S. Operations. “We believe our industrial
and office capabilities and assignments in the area, under the
stewardship of the Lane Witherspoon & Carswell team, will grow
exponentially and that our clients will be expertly guided.”

Avison Young opened its first South Florida offices in October 2012 in
Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Miami, with 30 members, including Pike Rowley who became a Principal and Managing Director of Avison Young’s Florida
region. In May 2013, industry leader Dan Carlo was named Managing Director of the Miami office. In June 2013, Avison
Young acquired WG Compass Realty Companies, adding 24 members and establishing a West Palm Beach office led by
Managing Director Jonathan Satter. Avison Young’s Florida operations are headquartered in Fort
Lauderdale.

“The Tampa market is benefiting from an improving housing market,
resulting in an uptick in employment led by the construction industry,”
notes Rowley. “The timing for the Lane Witherspoon & Carswell team to
join Avison Young is ideal – with the overall market outperforming
first-quarter numbers and continuing to trend in a positive direction
from one year ago. Beyond strengthening in market conditions, the match
between the Lane Witherspoon & Carswell team and Avison Young was a
natural fit. Our new endeavor in Tampa will reflect the same level of
service with strong integrity and insistence on putting our clients
first.”

Effective immediately, Avison Young’s new Tampa office is located at
1715 North Westshore Center, Suite 130, Tampa, Florida. The Westshore
submarket is in proximity to Tampa International Airport, International
Plaza and Westshore Plaza Mall.

“We were not actively seeking, nor had strong intentions of an
acquisition,” says Lane. “However, after meeting the leaders and
ownership of Avison Young, it became acutely apparent that this unique
platform affords our team the freedom to remain entrepreneurs, place
clients first, and remain principal owners in a fast-growth company. In
short, there is no commercial real estate services company of this size
that is designed by brokers and run by brokers. This is a very exciting
opportunity for our entire organization.”

The Tampa metro area is one of the top 20 commercial real estate markets
in the country, and the population center of the eight-county region
with more than 4.2 million residents. Home to 19 corporate headquarters
with $1 billion-plus in annual revenue, eight of which are Fortune 1000
companies, Tampa is also the location of choice for nearly 500
foreign-owned companies representing more than 40 nations.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Avison Young opening its 50th
office two weeks ago, on Long Island, New York.

***

Biographies

Kenneth E. Lane III
With more than 15 years of experience in the Tampa Bay commercial real
estate industry, Kenneth Lane specializes in landlord and tenant
representation. Prior to joining Avison Young, Lane was a founding
member and served as the Broker of Record and as a Managing Director
for Lane Witherspoon & Carswell Commercial Real Estate Advisors. He was
also a founding member and Principal of L&W Commercial Property
Management. Earlier in his career, Lane was Vice-President of office
leasing for Trammell Crow Company.

Lane has worked with a variety of institutional owners during his
career, including AEW Capital, TA Associates Realty, Great Point
Investors, Principal Financial Group, Archon Group, LaSalle Investment
Management and several other local investment groups. He has
represented such notable clients as: Team Health, CVS, Brookdale Senior
Living, Fortress Investments, Checkers Drive-in Restaurants,
ESolultions Corporation, JW Cole Financial, Global Data Management and
many other local and regional firms.

Clay Witherspoon
Clay Witherspoon brings to Avison Young 18 years of expertise in
landlord representation for industrial and office buildings in the
Tampa Bay market, including leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, and
the underwriting and marketing of more than 1.4 msf of new development
projects. Prior to joining Avison Young, Witherspoon was a Managing
Director for Lane Witherspoon & Carswell Commercial Real Estate
Advisors, and a Principal of L&W Commercial Property Management.
Earlier in his career, Witherspoon was Vice-President in the Tampa
office of Trammell Crow Company.

Throughout his career, Witherspoon has served as the exclusive agent for
such institutional owners as AMB Property Corporation, Archon Group,
Clarion Partners, Great Point Investors, LaSalle Investment Management,
Lend Lease, Meridian Development Group, Morgan Stanley, Principal
Financial Group, RREEF, TA Associates Realty and Trammell Crow Company,
as well as several other private developers and investors. Witherspoon
is the recipient of the Archon Achievement Award (1998), the CoStar
Power Broker Award (2003 to 2010 and 2012) and the Tampa Bay Business Journal‘s Largest Lease Transactions Top 10 on multiple occasions.

Trey Carswell
Specializing in industrial and office properties representing
institutional landlords, tenants, buyers and sellers, Trey Carswell has
worked with clients such as Clarion Partners, EastGroup Properties,
Walton Street Capital, UBS, Meridian Development Group, Cabot
Properties, Nestl Waters and World Electric Supply. Prior to joining
Avison Young, Carswell was a founding member and Director of Lane
Witherspoon and Carswell Commercial Real Estate Advisors. Prior to
this, he specialized in industrial and office brokerage with Trammell
Crow Company, and earlier in his career served as Associate Director of
industrial services for GVA Advantis.

Recognized by the industry over the past decade as a leading broker,
Carswell has received several CoStar Power Broker awards, multiple
Pinnacle awards, GVA Advantis’ Industrial Broker of the Year award, and
consistently ranks in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Top 10 Broker for Largest Lease Transaction listings.

Suzi Dixon
With more than 30 years of industry experience, Suzi Dixon is a
well-established and respected member of the Tampa Bay commercial real
estate community and currently oversees 2.3 msf of office, retail and
industrial properties. Prior to joining Avison Young, Dixon was a
founding partner and Director of Property Management for L&W Commercial
Property Management. Earlier in her career, Dixon worked as property
manager for both office and industrial buildings at Trammell Crow
Company.

During her career, she has managed such notable properties as Rocky
Point Centre, Westshore Center, Sunforest I & II, Hampton Oaks,
Benjamin Center, Northport Industrial Park, President’s Plaza II and
Corporex Plaza. She has received two Building Owners and Managers
Association (BOMA) TOBY awards for Sunforest I & II and Westshore
Center. In addition, Dixon’s activities in the local commercial real
estate community include membership in the Westshore Alliance. She is a
former BOMA board member and a Certified Property Manager (CPM)
candidate.

Avison Young is the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate
services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a
collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals.
Founded in 1978, the company comprises 1,300 real estate professionals
in 51 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales,
leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement
services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and
multi-family properties.

Editors/Reporters

∙ Please click on links to view and download photos of Ken Lane, Clay
Witherspoon, Trey Carswell, Suzi Dixon

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Ken_Lane.jpg

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Clay_Witherspoon.jpg

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Trey_Carswell.jpg

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Suzi_Dixon.jpg

For further information/comment/photos:

• Sherry Quan, National Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young:
604.647-5098; mobile: 604.726-0959

• Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028

• Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610

• Pike Rowley, Principal & Managing Director, Florida, Avison Young:
954.938-1807

• Ken Lane, Principal & Managing Director, Tampa, Florida, Avison Young:
813.288.1800 x 223

Avison Young’s new Tampa, Florida office is located at: 1715 North Westshore Center, Suite 130, Tampa Florida, 33607,
813.288.1800

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young was a winner of Canada’s Best Managed Companies program in 2011 and requalified in 2012 to maintain its status as a
Best Managed company.

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For industry news, press releases and market reports: www.twitter.com/avisonyoung
For Avison Young listings and deals: www.twitter.com/AYListingsDeals

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SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)