Nick Cook, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company’s U.K. operations, has announced that leading commercial real estate industry professional Anthony Salata and his team, including Richard Dennis-Smith and Dana Genis, have joined the firm in its London West End office.
The team will continue to specialise in helping its clients enhance problem property assets and realise value from distressed portfolios.
“We’re thrilled to have the Jorden Salata team on board in London as we continue to expand and develop our U.K. service offering,” comments Cook. “We expect that the Jorden Salata team’s expertise in adding value to problem property assets will be much in demand as pressure on prime real estate in the U.K. continues to increase.”
The team will focus on working with Avison Young’s banking and funding clients to advise on valuations for new lending and also to review existing portfolios where lenders may have concerns. In addition, the team will work with Avison Young’s global asset management professionals to advise global occupier clients in order to offer a due diligence service on behalf of purchasers of debt portfolios.
Cook continues: “The addition of the Jorden Salata team is another example of Avison Young’s commitment to delivering creative consulting solutions to solve client challenges – in this case, the need to make sub-par property assets deliver more value in a market where prime real estate costs are spiralling upwards.”
Salata offers 33 years of industry experience in the fields of valuation, investment and development appraisal. Salata is a former chair of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) dispute resolution practice panel, while Dennis-Smith is a chartered surveyor with more than 20 years of experience, and a member of the Investment Property Forum and RICS regeneration forum.
“Our team is proud to become part of Avison Young’s professional family and its Principal-led, collaborative culture,” says Salata. “We share the same values and desire to provide the best results for clients. This is an exciting opportunity to offer our real estate consultancy advice as part of a larger, expanding global organisation. We look forward to accessing Avison Young’s comprehensive resources and working with our new colleagues in Canada, the U.S. and Germany.”
