John Ziesmer was not looking to leave Avison Young when he was approached by Transwestern Midwest President Mike Watts in December. But like any good broker, Ziesmer listened to Watts’ pitch and learned Watts had big things in mind.
“Mike said that he was looking to expand and grow, and that he liked our team. We were content at AY, but Mike kept up the pressure,” Ziesmer said.
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Last week, Ziesmer and his longtime tenant advisory team jumped from AY to Transwestern, bringing 95 years of combined experience in tenant representation with them.
Ziesmer and Kevin Moore will assume executive vice president roles, Kimberlyn de Buhr was named a senior associate and Stephen Sevenich was named a business analyst. Rounding out the team is Senior Vice President John Skalla, who came to Transwestern from Bradford Allen.
Ziesmer said it was important to keep the team together. He, Moore and de Buhr have worked together for a decade. Prior to AY, the three worked at Grubb & Ellis, and they bring individual strengths to the team. Ziesmer — the most experienced member of the team — focuses on strategic planning and site selection to law firms, hospitals and investment banking firms across the country. Moore is an expert in sale-leasebacks, early lease renegotiations and governmental incentives, and de Buhr is a downtown office specialist and the point person for new client development.
Moore said what sold the team on Transwestern was the firm’s investment in technology. Last year, Transwestern’s technology solutions group moved the firm’s entire IT system to a cloud-based platform, improving productivity and the client experience.
“The depth of resources and tech Transwestern has invested in allows us to serve our clients to the best of our ability,” Moore said.
Sevenich said Transwestern’s platform will help with financial analysis of multimarket portfolios.
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Skalla, who represents local and national credit tenants in retail and healthcare, briefly worked at AY before moving to Bradford Allen. He said the opportunity to reunite with Ziesmer, Moore and de Buhr, and Transwestern’s platform, was too good to pass up.
“The availability of resources here is something I’ve never had at my disposal before,” Skalla said.
Ziesmer said Transwestern’s platform allowed the new team to hit the ground running, and they were reaching out to clients within 48 hours of joining the firm. The team is focused on small to midsize businesses with high-growth trajectories that can get funding quickly.
“Tech, nonprofits, law firms and professional services companies are our bread and butter,” Moore said.
Ziesmer said the wealth of market research Transwestern is able to compile will allow the team to save their clients money when signing a lease.
“Rent is still the second-biggest expense for any organization and spaces need to evolve to support missions and reduce footprint. Every foot of space not leased has a significant impact on the bottom line,” Ziesmer said.
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