John W. Fenton

As Principal and Managing Director of the Boston office, John Fenton is responsible for Avison Young's day-to-day operations in the Greater Boston area as well as overseeing the company's expansion in the New England region. John's expertise is in capital markets with a background in lending and equity investment.

John has 25 years of experience in commercial real estate investments. John has worked for four companies, two of which he started. John's skills and experience span acquisitions, lending, leasing, asset management, capital formation and disposition. Thus far in his career, John has closed 85 deals worth over $1 billion and managed assets worth $4 billion. Since 1991, John has played a central role in the acquisition, management and disposition of 100 non-performing loans, 3,000 apartment units, and 4-million-square-feet (msf) of commercial properties.

Prior to forming Essex River Ventures in 2003, where he served as CEO and Managing Director, John was a founding partner and Director of Acquisitions at Berkeley Investments, a Boston-based real estate operating company.

John spent the first five years of his career working for large institutional companies. In 1985, he was an Investment Officer with Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he had regional responsibilities for real estate lending, joint ventures and acquisitions in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and the Washington DC-Baltimore corridor. In 1987, Fenton broadened his institutional background as an Asset Manager with Copley Real Estate Advisors, where he managed a $4-billion development portfolio in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Dallas.