Avison Young’s New Jersey office in Morristown — Courtesy: Avison Young
By Joshua Burd
Avison Young has acquired Studio Eagle, a Springfield-based design and workplace planning firm, marking a major addition to its New Jersey project management platform.
The firms announced Tuesday that Bruce Emtage, Studio Eagle’s managing director, joins the real estate services firm alongside more than 30 team members, including interior designers and project managers. They will be based in Avison Yong’s Morristown office, with Emtage serving as a principal and managing director for its New Jersey Project Management Studio Services unit.
“Studio Eagle’s direct-to-market interior design-to-build services align with our understanding of the workplace as a dynamic ecosystem that must be approached holistically,” said Sheila Botting, principal and president for AY’s Americas professional services group. “By offering ‘white-glove’ service that leverages a tightly-knit team to deliver everything from the space planning and interior design through construction, the Studio Eagle team brings greater value to clients and can create spaces that are more innovative, human-centric and sustainable, in line with Avison Young’s X Factor approach.”
The addition of Studio Eagle, which was founded in 1987, is the latest in a series of moves that have helped grow Avison Young’s footprint since it opened a New Jersey office in 2012. The Toronto-based firm was among the first to focus on bringing construction and project management in-house, as traditional brokerage teams seek to be more holistic in their offerings.
The company on Tuesday touted other recent acquisitions such as Dowling Houy, a Boston-based project management firm, and the addition of Arlene Dedier as the head of its Canadian project management services team. Such moves are more important than ever as occupiers, owners and investors navigate issues such as workplace strategy and resiliency.
“Transformative changes are taking place at Avison Young, elevating us to the next level and setting the bar of what to expect from a commercial real estate services organization,” said Juan Bueno, principal and U.S. president at Avison Young. “Adding Studio Eagle’s flawless hand-off project management model opens the door to a whole new host of services that build on our ability to meet client needs at every stage of the real estate life cycle. That is a major differentiator for us and a critical part of our strategy.”
Originally known as Eagle Acoustics, Studio Eagle started with a focus on suspended ceilings and interior construction before evolving into a full-service workplace space planning and interiors design firm, according to a news release. The practice has a long history of representing top-tier corporate clients throughout the tristate region in industries such as food, legal, life sciences and insurance.
Its recent projects include workplaces for Apprentice.io in Jersey City and Bressler Amery & Ross PC in Florham Park.
“We made the strategic choice to align ourselves with a collaborative and dynamic real estate services platform like Avison Young’s because they have the market intelligence and tech stack to propel growth and put boots on the ground in extended geographic regions,” Emtage said. “This was the right transition, at the right time and we are excited to bring our talented team and decades of workplace design experience to the Avison Young family.”
Matheson Financial Advisors Inc. acted as the financial and M&A adviser to Studio Eagle and its members, while Morningstar Law Group served as their legal adviser.
