Avison Young promotes Ted Davis to Canada COO
Avison Young, a global commercial real estate services firm, has promoted Ted Davis to the newly created role of chief operations officer for Canada.
Based in the firm’s Toronto headquarters, Davis will report to Mark Fieder, principal and president of Avison Young Canada, and Martin Dockrill, global COO.
Davis will be “responsible for identifying opportunities to streamline operations across the country,” according to a press release.
Commercial real estate continues to experience challenging conditions driven by the growth of remote work and high interest rates. The national office vacancy rate in Canada rose to 18.1% in the second quarter – the highest level since 1994. Commercial deal property volume in Canada dropped 52% in the first quarter year-over-year, according to MSCI Real Assets, with the officer sector falling 86%.
Research firm Capital Economics estimates office values will drop 35% by the end of 2025, and are unlikely to recover even by 2040.
“Ted is an exceptional leader with deep knowledge of our organization and industry, and a wealth of experience in driving revenue and operational excellence; I have every confidence that he will help fuel our future,” Fieder said. “Since joining the firm in 2010, Ted has been instrumental in bringing teams together to create value for clients in his market, and we are excited to see him do this at the national level.”
Davis has nearly 20 years of experience in commercial real estate. He previously served as managing director of Avison Young’s Southwestern Ontario region, and will continue to serve as managing director of Toronto West.
Before joining Avison Young, Davis was a broker at Cushman & Wakefield and director of marketing at the Canadian Institute of Management.
“I look forward to taking on this new opportunity and contributing to the continued growth of the firm,” said Davis. “Our people are the backbone of Avison Young, and I am eager to partner with them to unlock more value for clients by streamlining our operations, leveraging our holistic services, and tapping into our leading-edge technology platforms, such as AVANT by Avison Young.”
The firm said the Davis appointment will allow Fieder to focus on business development, client alignment, recruitment, and acquisitions. Avison Young also appointed Joe Almeida, managing director for Toronto, as managing director for Ontario.
“These strategic changes will provide us with more bandwidth to ramp up new innovations, drive efficiencies, and respond more nimbly to client needs,” said Fieder.
Avison Young has 5,000+ employees across offices in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The firm provides investment sales, leasing, management, financing, and advisory services to clients in the office, retail, industrial, multi-family, and hospitality sectors.
