Richard Kessler Promoted to First-Ever CEO of Benenson Capital Partners

Richard Kessler has been promoted to the first-ever CEO of Benenson Capital Partners, Commercial Observer has learned.

Kessler has since 1998 served as chief operating officer of the development company run by three members of the Benenson family, essentially operating in a “de facto CEO role,” the company said.

He will now officially be made CEO, a role that has been vacant in the company’s entire 121-year history, according to the firm.

“Benenson Capital Partners has always taken a long-term view — investing with discipline, partnering with best-in-class operators, and stewarding assets across generations,” Kessler said in a statement. “I am honored to take on this role and continue building on that legacy, while positioning the firm to meet the evolving needs of our partners, tenants and the communities in which we invest.”

Hired in 1978, Kessler has been the primary decision-maker at Benenson for decades now, and was handed the official CEO title from principals (and brothers) Bill and Lawrence Benenson and the late Fred Benenson’s sons Fred and Alexander. Kessler had worked alongside Rachel Loeb, formerly chief investment officer at Benenson, before she left in January to launch her own real estate development and advisory firm, Muse Partners.

Since it was founded in 1905 by the Benenson family, the company has developed 130 properties across the U.S. and Canada in the retail, multifamily, mixed-use, industrial, office and hospitality sectors.

Kessler is active in various alumni associations at Harvard University, including an advisory role for the school’s graduate school of design, and he is a trustee for nonprofit affordable housing developer Phipps Houses.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.