Larry Levy is a Founder of Cresset Real Estate Partners, as well as a serial entrepreneur who brings his value-added approach to his many various endeavors, developments, investments and philanthropy.
Larry has had a simultaneous career in real estate development and investment. Major projects have included the recently completed River Point, a 1.1 million square foot office building in partnership with Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge; the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Center; One South Dearborn, in partnership with Hines; One Magnificent Mile; and Woodfield Lake Office Campus and the redevelopment of 321 North Clark. In all, Larry’s portfolio comprises more than 10 million square feet developed. In 2003, Larry joined with Michael Miller and Jeff Cherner to form Diversified Real Estate Capital. Between 2003 and 2020, Diversified invested over $1.5 Billion to acquire, develop or own 25 institutional quality assets, executing on a variety of value-add, opportunistic and development strategies to create significant alpha for investors. Diversified’s assets include Salesforce Tower, 321 Clark Street and Cassidy Tire in Chicago, as well as The Victor in Dallas. In 2021, Cresset Partners and Diversified Real Estate Capital announced the formation of a partnership of their real estate groups, expanding Cresset’s real estate investment platform.
Founded in 1978, Larry built Levy Restaurants from a single delicatessen in Chicago into an internationally recognized specialized food service organization with the market leading share of sports and entertainment catering throughout North America and Europe and a network of acclaimed restaurants. Larry sold Levy Restaurants to the Compass Group of London in 2006, but remains Chairman Emeritus. Larry and two of his sons, Managing Partners Ari Levy and Steven Florsheim, manage Levy Family Partners’ (LFP) portfolio of operating businesses, real estate and other investments. LFP owns significant stakes in the Esperanza Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a portfolio of real estate assets, Del Taco Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:TACO), and Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza. The private equity and venture holdings of LFP have included investments in a diverse set of private companies, including, Intensity Therapeutics, Cleversafe, Home Depot Supply, Lakeview Investment Group, Nest, Organic Life, Peloton, Signal, Space X, Swipesense, and Sunbit.
Larry and his wife Carol created and endowed the Levy Institute of Entrepreneurial Practice and the Levy Social Entrepreneur Lab at Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Larry sits on the boards of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, the Lincoln Park Zoo, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University. Larry previously served as Chairman of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization and the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee. Larry received his B.S. and M.B.A. at Northwestern University.