Richard Kessler
Chief Operating Officer, Benenson Capital
As Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Investment Committee, Mr. Kessler is the Senior Officer responsible for developing the Company’s strategic direction and overseeing its day-to-day operations. In addition to his executive management responsibilities, he is a key leader in developing, evaluating, and pursuing the Company’s investment, development, joint venture and financing opportunities. Since joining the Company in 1977, he has served in several capacities including development, finance and acquisitions. He was named Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director in 1989 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 1998. Throughout his tenure with the Benenson family, he has been responsible for completing over $2.5 billion of real estate transactions.
Mr. Kessler is a member of the International Advisory Board of Harvard University’s Real Estate Academic Initiative (REAI) and is a Co-Chair of the alumni Advisory Committee of the Advanced Management Development Program (AMDP) at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. As a faculty member of the Master’s program in Real Estate Development and Investment at New York University, he has Co-Chaired its Capital Markets Conference. Mr. Kessler is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Interlink Group and a Trustee of Phipps Houses for which he serves on its Real Estate and Finance Committees.
Mr. Kessler is the immediate past Chair of the New York District Council of the Urban Land Institute and an active participant in its national leadership. Additional real estate activities include the Real Estate Roundtable, Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association, Real Estate Board of New York, and the NYU Real Estate Round Table.
Mr. Kessler completed the AMDP program at Harvard in 2003 and earned a diploma in Real Estate Finance and Investment Analysis from NYU in 1983 where he was a Mortgage Banker’s Scholarship Award recipient. He also holds a BA in Finance and Accounting from Boston University.