Richard Friedman
President & CEO
Carpenter & Company

Richard L. Friedman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Carpenter & Company Inc., a nationally recognized, award-winning real estate development firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. With a focus on hotel and mixed-use developments that spans more than 40 years, Mr. Friedman has become one of the most respected hotel developers in the country. He is known for his creative approach to hotel developments, the reuse of historic structures, and high rise transformative mixed-use projects.

Among the firm’s most noteworthy projects are the conversion of Boston’s iconic and historic Charles Street Jail into the luxury hotel, aptly named, The Liberty Hotel; the design and construction of the 42-story St. Regis Hotel and Residences in downtown San Francisco; and the Charles Hotel and Square, an 800,000 square foot mixed-use project in the heart of Harvard Square, Cambridge. It is worthy of note that all of his company’s developments have been financially and civically successful, and honored recipients of numerous design and civic awards, including the “Development of the Year Award” by America’s Lodging Summit; Gold List, Conde Nast Traveler; Preservation Award, Massachusetts Historical Commission; and Best Business Hotel, Travel + Leisure to name a few.

As a member of the Board of Directors of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Worlwide, he is active in its global expansion and design quality. Mr. Friedman’s company is currently developing two marquee Four Seasons hotel and residential projects: the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences One Dalton Street, Boston, and the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences New Orleans.

One Dalton, due for completion in the latter part of 2018, will be the tallest residential building ever constructed in New England and boasts boldface designers Henry N. Cobb, founding partner of Pei, Cobb Freed & Partners, and Thierry Despont. In 2020, Carpenter & Company will bring to New Orleans its first true five-star hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences. It will be a conversion of the historically landmarked former World Trade Center on the Mississippi River waterfront at the intersection of Poydras and Canal Streets.

Carpenter & Company is also under construction with a 250-room Edition Hotel in Reykjavik, Iceland. Set on the harbor in Reykjavik, adjacent to Harpa, the city’s stunning concert and conference hall, The Edition will be Icelands’s first five-star hotel opening in late 2018.

In addition to his distinguished real estate portfolio, Mr. Friedman is known for his long-standing dedication to civic service.

President Barack Obama appointed Mr. Friedman to the President’s Export Council, where he served as Co-Chairperson of the committee advising on U.S. travel and tourism policy. During the Clinton Administration, he served as Chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal government’s urban planning agency in charge of all master planning, monuments, and parklands in the Metro D.C. area. He is also the founder of the Interagency Security Task Force for Washington, DC which partners with the U.S. Secret Service among other government agencies, to improve security with good aesthetics and civic purpose in Washington. In addition to the Four Seasons Board seat he serves or has served on numerous businesses civic and charitable boards and has been a key charitable contributor to numerous local and national charities.