ORLANDO—Avison Young shook up the South Florida commercial real estate scene earlier this week when it announced plans to acquire Abood Wood-Fay, which is currently doing business as Colliers International South Florida. Now, the firm is moving deeper into Central Florida with the acquisition of Orlando-based Morrison Commercial Real Estate (MCRE).

Greg Morrison founded MCRE in 2007 as a full-service brokerage firm specializing in the office and industrial sectors. The company provides landlord, owner and tenant representation services in leasing, buying, selling, and site selection. The firms 11 members are joining Avison. Morrison and Lisa Bailey will become principles and Morrison is managing director of the new Orlando office.

“Orlando represents one of the three major markets in the state that Avison Young now operates out of,” says Mark Rose, chair and CEO of Avison. “The city's significant population base—the third largest metro area in the state—and mass appeal to both owners and tenants make Orlando a natural hub for Avison Young to have a home base from which to serve our growing client base.”

As part of the acquisition, Avison will assume a significant leasing portfolio, including the representation of more than 3.4 million square feet of office space in the Central Florida market. The new Orlando office will also include property management in its broad span of services.

“The Orlando market is benefiting from improved infrastructure and logistics and a rebounding office market, resulting in increased real estate development, which is spurring job creation,” says Pike Rowley, managing director of Avison for Florida. “ As such, transaction activity is driving revenues for professional services throughout the state, making the timing ideal for the Morrison team to join Avison Young.”

The newest American office represents Avison's sixth office in Florida and 44th in the US. Over the past five-and-a-half years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 61 offices in 50 markets and from 300 to more than 1,600 real estate professionals in Canada, the US and Europe. Avison's Orlando office is located in downtown Orlando at 255 South Orange Avenue, Suite 1545.

“The Avison Young brand will enable us to grow our business while providing unprecedented service to clients on a local, national and international basis,” says Morrison. “Taking advantage of strong job-growth fundamentals in Central Florida, our veteran team of brokers and administrators will enable Avison Young to grow its property-management platform and overall market reach throughout the state and U.S. Southeast.”

The Orlando metro area—generally defined by the four counties of Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola—is home to over 2.1 million people. That makes Orlando the 26th largest metro area in the US. Avison's research reveals Orlando is one of the top 10 locations in the nation for business. The metro area is also home to 54 corporate headquarters, including AirTran, JetBlue, NBC Universal, Darden Restaurants, Tupperware Brands Corp., American Automobile Association (AAA) and Ruth's Chris Steak House.