Avison Young invests in the client experience to deliver shared value

Industry veteran Harry Klaff joins Avison Young in new role as President of Clients

Toronto, ON – Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, today announced that industry leader Harry Klaff has been appointed to Avison Young as Principal and President of Clients. In this new role, Klaff will focus on occupier, owner and investor engagement globally, enhancing the firm’s collaborative culture and client service model. He is based in Washington, D.C.

“We all need to find new ways to realize the full potential of real estate as the world adapts and changes, and our client experience service model leverages real estate for business benefit through our collective intelligence of people and data,” said Rose. “Clients have always been at the heart of what we do and Harry’s decades of experience mentoring fellow colleagues and leading clients through their needs and challenges makes him purpose-fit to run our client engagement platform.”

Engaging clients in discussions about how to leverage real estate for economic, social and environmental value is at the core of Avison Young’s approach to the client experience. The firm and its Principals believe there is a vital role for the commercial real estate sector to create healthy, productive workplaces for employees, cities that are centres of prosperity for their citizens, and built spaces and places that create a net benefit to the economy, the environment and the community.

As President of Clients, Klaff will build on the firm’s collaborative culture, enhancing connectivity across service lines and affinity groups. He will partner closely with global leadership, including the President of Americas Professional Services, Sheila Botting, who joined Avison Young earlier this year, and Mark Croad, who joined Avison Young recently to lead the client and business development strategy for the U.K. Bringing diversity of thought to each client assignment will help connect clients to the market insight and trends that affect clients’ businesses now and in the future.

“It was an unbelievable opportunity and an easy decision to join Avison Young – a firm that is powered by people to deliver shared value for clients, which is completely aligned to my interests and skills,” said Klaff. “Avison Young’s collaborative culture means that clients get the full benefit of the firm’s cross-functional expertise, driving value as we use real estate to achieve business goals.”

Klaff joins Avison Young from JLL, where he served as a Managing Director, specializing in tenant representation. He has more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate, structuring complex real estate transactions across several sectors, including technology, government, professional services and finance. Klaff has completed more than $10 billion in real estate transactions for leading space occupiers. He serves on the board and executive committee of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and is on the board and serves as civic leadership committee chair of the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia.