Avison Young has acquired Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, marking their 8th Florida office and 59th office in the United States. Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group is a full-service commercial real estate brokerage and property management company based in Gainesville, Florida, with satellite offices in Ocala, Sarasota, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tallahassee. Front Street has rebranded as Avison Young and 26 new members have joined the firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Nick Banks becomes a Principal of Avison Young and Managing Director of the new Gainesville office. He will manage its day-to-day operations and lead the company’s strategic growth in Gainesville and across North Florida with a mandate to expand the company’s footprint, particularly in retail. He will also help Avison Young expand its service lines, particularly property management, in Jacksonville. Banks brings to Avison Young 25 years of commercial real estate experience, most recently as Managing Director of Front Street, which he founded in 2002. The firm is a leader in the region’s commercial real estate market and offers services for all property types, including office, retail, flex/industrial and land. The company has developed particular expertise in retail property brokerage. Relationships with national retail brands as well as private and institutional owners of retail properties have fuelled the majority of the firm’s growth throughout North Florida.

“We are thrilled to be opening our first office in Gainesville and, at the same time, expanding our presence in North Florida,” comments Rose. “The acquisition of Front Street reinforces our strong foundation in Florida and assists our rollout in the northern area of the state, particularly in terms of retail brokerage and all aspects of property management. By bringing Nick and the rest of the Front Street team on board, we are adding individuals who are respected for their leadership, extensive industry experience and in-depth local and regional market knowledge. More importantly, they will fit seamlessly into our Principal-led, collaborative culture and provide a superior level of service to clients.”

“The Front Street team has established itself as a market leader throughout the North Florida region,” states Earl Webb, Avison Young President, U.S. Operations. “This acquisition will be highly beneficial to many of our occupier and investor clients throughout Florida. Front Street has built a high-quality service platform that provides creative real estate solutions, and Avison Young looks forward to growing our company’s presence in Gainesville, which we believe is an underserved market. Nick Banks has consistently provided excellent client service during his career while building a broad-based service platform at Front Street and other firms where he has worked. Additionally, the new team has a number of senior managers and brokers who will enhance our client-service capabilities in all asset classes and service lines.”

Also joining Avison Young from Front Street are brokers Rick Cain, Jason Hurst, Gavin Johnson, Beau Broker, Nick Robinson, Mike Oransky, Tim Deardourff, Flavia Kanyago, Bobby Nickels, Jennie Bram, Andrew Smith, Keith Crutcher and Edmund Aramayo. Property management specialists joining are: Cheryl Carroll, Alex Ling, Terri Smaistrla, Fred Maccioli, David Sooy and Aaron Graham. Joining as administrative and marketing specialists are: Sue Fisher, Natascha Kehri, Virginia MacKoul, Sara Padgett, Dustin Walsh and Alexandra Morales.

Front Street currently manages 20 properties totaling more than 1 msf of office, retail, industrial and multi-family space, including hundreds of apartment units, in the North Florida region. Properties under management include Innovation Square, an affiliated entity of the University of Florida; and Tioga Town Center, a mixed-use town center consisting of approximately 150,000 sf of retail, office and multi-family units. The acquisition brings Avison Young’s total square feet of office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties under management in Florida to 19 msf. Avison Young has more than 120 msf of retail, industrial and office properties under management in North America.

“With the opening of the new Gainesville office, Avison Young now has a strong presence in all of Florida’s regions,” notes Pike Rowley, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company’s Florida region. “The acquisition of Front Street enables us to accomplish several goals as we attempt to expand Avison Young’s reach into North Florida and grow our retail service lines statewide. The Gainesville area has been a rapid-growth market in Florida, driven by the University of Florida and UF Health at Shands and the emerging industrial sector in Ocala.”

“The acquisition enables us to bolster our retail service line in North Florida and, in one fell swoop, add brokerage and property management expertise in five other cities served by Front Street team members. Nick Banks is a strong leader who is deeply involved with the Gainesville business community. Furthermore, he is well-versed in the development and financial- underwriting area of the capital markets service line. He will be an integral member of our retail and capital markets practices,” added Rowley.

“Our team has been humbled by the support we have received from clients and other stakeholders over the last 16 years as we have built the Front Street brand from scratch and then throughout North Florida,” says Banks. “We could not be happier about joining a company like Avison Young, whose collaborative culture and values match ours so perfectly. We are excited about being a part of a growing and entrepreneurial platform like Avison Young. We also look forward to discovering what the resources of a global, Principal-led company can do to enhance the service that we bring to our clients. “

Avison Young’s new Gainesville office is located at 132 NW 76th Drive.