According to Mark Rose, chair and CEO of Avison Young, one of the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firms, retail real estate specialist Jedd Nero has joined the firm to expand its business-line coverage in New York City. Effective immediately, Nero becomes a principal and executive managing director, New York City retail services. In his new role, Nero will work closely with Avison Young's executive leadership and Tri-State president Arthur Mirante to grow the firm's retail services platform in New York City, including recruiting top retail real estate specialists. He will also represent landlords and retailers in all aspects of their retail space needs. With more than 25 years of retail real estate experience, Nero was most recently an executive vice-president at CBRE in New York City. "We are delighted to welcome Jedd to our New York City office and see this as a critical step in building a world-class retail services platform," comments Rose. "As part of our larger strategy to differentiate our brand and provide our clients with fully integrated services across all disciplines, we will continue to strengthen our presence in key markets throughout the U.S. and abroad with strategic recruitment of the industry's top professionals." States Mirante: "The local market knowledge and depth of client experiences and relationships that Jedd brings to Avison Young, combined with the company's innovative client-service model, will significantly impact our presence not only in the Tri-State market, but throughout the country. Our ability to attract this caliber of talent is a true testament to the exceptional and thriving culture that we have established." Highly regarded as one of the top retail real estate professionals in the industry, Nero has managed the real estate requirements for a number of national and international retailers, including Hugo Boss USA, Kenneth Cole, Volkswagen/Audi and JP Morgan Chase. Nero has been especially influential in shaping the retail landscape of Fifth Avenue, where he most recently represented Western Management at 589 Fifth Avenue in the signing of a milestone deal with H&M for 57,000 square feet (sf). This complex transaction created the largest H&M store in the world to date at that time, providing H&M with six floors of retail space. He also successfully secured space for auto giant Chrysler, recently completing a 110,000-sf deal in which he placed the company at 629-641 West 54th Street. In addition to tenant representation, Nero has served as leasing agent for numerous prominent property owners, including Silverstein Properties, Muss Development, Western Management, The Moinian Group, Mitsui Fudosan, Douglaston Development, Gallery Partners, The Statuto Group and Starwood. "I am very excited to leverage my deep industry experience at Avison Young, and will aim to build upon the foundation of success that has set the firm apart in the industry," states Nero. "The firm's Principal-led, collaborative culture provides the unique structure to deliver superior client service, contributing to its reputation as a global market leader. I look forward to continuing my career at Avison Young and assisting the firm in expanding its service capabilities in the retail sector." "Jedd's proven track record and experience align perfectly with our culture, which continues to be a differentiator for us," adds Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "Bringing Jedd on board will allow us to elevate our Tri-State market presence and create regional synergies in servicing the needs of our client base, as well as offer us the opportunity to build our retail group in one of the world's foremost retail markets."