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, residential, and mixed-use developments that spans more than 40 years, Mr. Friedman has become one of the most respected 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, aptly named, 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 but not limited to: “Development of the Year Award,” America’s Lodging Summit; Gold List, Conde Nast Traveler; Preservation Award, Massachusetts Historical Commission; and Best Business Hotel, Travel + Leisure.

As a former member of the Board of Directors of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, he was actively involved in the company’s global expansion and design quality. Mr. Friedman’s company developed two marquee Four Seasons hotel and residential projects and is underway on a third. Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences One Dalton and the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences New Orleans are both completed and have been recognized with multiple awards. Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Dallas at Turtle Creek is in development. 

One Dalton is the tallest residential building ever constructed in New England receiving recognition as a Best Tall Building from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. It boasts renowned designers including the late legendary architect Henry N. Cobb, founding partner of Pei, Cobb Freed & Partners, Thierry Despont, and Gary Johnson of CambridgeSeven. Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New Orleans represents the city’s first five-star hotel. Its development involved the conversion of the historically landmarked World Trade Center on the Mississippi River waterfront.

Carpenter & Company, Inc. also delivered a 250-room Edition Hotel in Iceland. Set on the harbor in Reykjavik, adjacent to Harpa, the city’s stunning concert and conference hall, The Reykjavik Edition is Iceland’s first five-star hotel.

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 Four Seasons, he has served on numerous businesses civic and charitable boards and has been a key charitable contributor to numerous local and national charities.