Thomas Usher, 24

Thomas Usher’s path into real estate began in his Connecticut high school, when he experienced the joy of a successful cold call earlier than most.

“I was selling knives in high school,” said Usher, who earned a bachelor’s degree in commercial real estate finance from the College of Charleston. “I had a really big sale and I felt a rush from that, and then I was like, ‘How could I emulate this on a bigger scale?’ ”

Usher interned at Matthews Real Estate Investment Services, Hayes Commercial Consulting and Ecotone Renewables before joining Avison Young in 2024.  

Usher’s responsibilities as a tenant rep associate for the office sector at Avison Young include site selection, financial modeling, lease negotiations and implementing cost-saving initiatives, but his high school cold-calling background is put to solid use.

“I’m a big canvasser — I canvass pretty heavily on agencies,” said Usher. “That involves cold calls to C-suite executives to find out information on their buildings, or just to start a conversation. We get meetings through that, and hopefully over time they lead to tenant rep deals.”

One major project Usher worked on was the Gantry Point office building in Long Island City, which was purchased by Sotheby’s for $82 million in 2022.

“Winning that as a team was a great feeling, and being able to work for Sotheby’s on their building is a big honor,” said Usher. “I’m excited about it.”

Usher also works on Avison Young’s APF Properties account, canvassing for potential tenants for the owner’s 183 Madison Avenue, 286 Madison Avenue, 28 West 44th Street and 1156 Avenue of the Americas.

Usher says he looks forward to continuing along this path, working in ways that benefit Avison Young’s clients.

“I want to do as much brokerage work as possible. It’s what I’m most passionate about and where I find myself comfortable,” he said. “I love the tenant rep aspect for an agency. You’re helping everybody win.”