CONTACT

TEAM

OWNERSHIP

Bruce (Bill) W. Benenson

Principal

Frederick C. Benenson

Principal

Lawrence B. Benenson

Principal

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Richard A. Kessler

Chief Operating Officer

Rachel Loeb

Chief Investment Officer

Suzanne K. Boehm

Chief Financial Officer

Gary F. Sedoruk

Managing Director, Property Management

MANAGEMENT

Salvatore J. Ciaravino

Senior Director of Real Estate

Leonard J. Kreppel

Director of Asset Management

Matthew M. Butts

Property Manager

Zakary J. Katzman

Senior Director of Strategic Projects & Investments

EMERITUS

James. E. Stifel

David P. Thomas


OWNERSHIP

Bruce (Bill) W. Benenson

Bruce (Bill) W. Benenson
Principal

After graduating in 1967 from Columbia University, Bill Benenson served two and a half years in the US Peace Corps in Bahia, Brazil. He made his producing and directing debut with two award-winning documentaries, The Marginal Way and Diamond Rivers, which received national broadcast. He served as a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute in 1975. He then went on to produce Boulevard Nights and wrote the original treatment for Pumping Iron starring Arnold Schwarzenegger before starting his own company. Under Benenson Productions, he was involved with the creation of three features: Under the Volcano, The Lightship, and A Walk on the Moon. He served as Executive Producer for A Walk on the Moon and the critically acclaimed Mister Johnson.

Bill along with his two brothers, Fred and Lawrence, are Principals in the family business interests, including The Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting a wide range of educational, social and environmental organizations. Bill is a former board member of the Wildwood School and is active in the Violence Policy Center, the National Resources Defense Council, Bioneers, Rainforest Action Network and Ploughshares, as well as being one of the initial investors in Seeds of Change.

Frederick C. Benenson

Frederick C. Benenson
Principal

A graduate of Harvard University, Fred did his graduate work at Oxford University, leading to a Doctorate in Philosophy. He taught both full-time and part-time from 1972 – 2004 in Departments of Philosophy and Physics at the University of Birmingham, England and in America at SUNY, Purchase. His main research interest and publications centered on Theories of Probability.

In 2004, he retired from academic work and since then has worked full time on the family’s real estate interests, concentrating on the financial, tax and legal aspects of the Company’s activities. Among other philanthropic activities, Fred has made donations to honor the memory of his father to Yale University, Lincoln Center and New York Hospital, and, with his wife, Jutta, supports numerous organizations dedicated to social justice and civil liberties.

Lawrence B. Benenson

Lawrence B. Benenson
Principal

As a Principal and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee, Lawrence B. Benenson is involved in developing and implementing the Company’s investment strategies and internal operations as well as guiding the Company’s short and long-term planning. His leadership guides the Company’s near-term and long-range planning and has helped Benenson Capital Partners grow to become one of the nation’s premier owners of net-leased properties.

Mr. Benenson is the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy and Head Co-Chairman of the Lincoln Center Real Estate and Construction Council. He serves on the Boards of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center in the Bronx, the Museum for African Art, the Center for Arts in Education, American Folk Art Museum, the ART/OMI International Arts Center, the New York Junior Tennis League, Al Hirschfeld Foundation and the Ad Reinhardt Foundation. He also serves on the Boards of the Inner-City Scholarship Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Previously, Mr. Benenson worked for Rose Associates, a real estate investment and development company specializing in Manhattan properties. He has been involved with the Benenson family business since 1990.

Mr. Benenson holds a BA from Duke University. He is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, Vice President of the Realty Foundation of New York,  and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Richard A. Kessler

Richard A. Kessler
Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Executive and Investment Committees, 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 1978, 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 billions of dollars of real estate transactions.

Mr. Kessler is a member of the Alumni Advisory Board of Harvard University’s Real Estate Academic Initiative (REAI) and was Co-Chair of the alumni Advisory Committee of the Advanced Management Development Program (AMDP) at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. He was a faculty member of the Master’s program in Real Estate Development and Investment at New York University and has Co-Chaired its Capital Markets Conference. Mr. Kessler is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Interlink Group, a Trustee of Phipps Houses for which he serves on its Real Estate and Finance Committees and a Board Member of Spark Youth.

Mr. Kessler was a Global Governing Trustee of the Urban Land Institute. He formally served as Chair of UDMUC Bronze and has had leadership roles in UDMUC Green. He is past Chair and Governance Chair of the New York District Council of ULI. 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 at Harvard University in 2003 and a diploma in Real Estate Finance and Investment Analysis from NYU in 1983 where he was a Mortgage Banker’s Scholarship recipient. He also holds a BA in Finance and Accounting from Boston University.

Rachel Loeb

Rachel Loeb
Chief Investment Officer

Rachel Loeb is the Chief Investment Officer of Benenson Capital Partners where she co-leads the company’s development, investment, asset management, and construction strategies and teams. She is a creative real estate leader with two decades of real estate and economic development experience and a proven track record in the private and public sectors. Before joining Benenson, Rachel led the NYC Economic Development Corporation as President and CEO. With annual revenues of $250MM, she ran a diverse 60MM+ square foot portfolio and managed a $10B+ capital budget. She launched the city’s post-pandemic economic recovery plan that led to historic investments in life sciences, off shore wind, and created the city’s business development unit which won the Amazon HQ2 competition and negotiated the retention of the JetBlue headquarters. Prior to joining NYCEDC, she was a real estate developer and created or acquired more than $1.5B of mixed-use assets and over 3,000 units of mixed-income housing across the Northeast. Throughout her career, she led a broad range of ground up developments, acquisitions, dispositions, and financings for real estate properties and worked for privately held companies as well as at AvalonBay, a public REIT. Her career began in Vietnam working on the country’s first master-planned community.

Rachel was named to Crain’s New York Business 40 Under 40 and received the Spirit of the City Award from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, among others. She has repeatedly been named one of the top women in NY real estate. She is an active member of ULI and a member of the NY Advisory Board, WX, Chief and the MIT Visiting Committee for the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. She is an active leader of the building committees of both the Berkeley Carroll School and Brooklyn Heights Synagogue and volunteered her expertise during major renovations for their facilities. A native of Kansas City, she graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in History and has a Master’s Degree in City Planning from MIT.

Suzanne K. Boehm

Suzanne K. Boehm
Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Boehm is responsible for all accounting, tax, treasury and reporting functions.

Prior to joining Benenson Capital Partners, Ms. Boehm was with Emmes Asset Management Company LLC for over 13 years. Ms. Boehm’s most recent title was Senior Chief Accounting Officer/Chief Compliance Officer where she headed the Accounting, Reporting and Compliance functions. Prior to that, Ms. Boehm was with Kimco Realty Corporation, a publicly-traded REIT for over 10 years.

Ms. Boehm holds a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Taxation from St. John’s University.

Gary F. Sedoruk

Gary F. Sedoruk
Managing Director, Property Management

As Managing Director of Property Management at BCP, Mr. Sedoruk oversees the general operations of all assets in the Benenson portfolio in the U.S. and Canada, ensuring that all are well leased and carefully maintained.

Prior to joining BCP, Mr. Sedoruk spent 15 years at Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. in New York, most recently as Vice President of Engineering. In that capacity, Mr. Sedoruk maintained a 5.2 million-square- foot portfolio for Goldman Sachs, opened a 200,000-square-foot data center, expanded the company’s business into the United Kingdom and centralized operations, maintenance and financial reporting of 32 regional sites in North and South America. He was awarded the 2004 Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Services Engineering Excellence Award and his asset, 320 Park Avenue, received the 2002 Property of the Year Award from BOMA/NY as well as the Energy Star Award for Energy Performance.

MANAGEMENT

Salvatore J. Ciaravino

Salvatore J. Ciaravino
Senior Director of Real Estate

As Senior Director of Real Estate, Mr. Ciaravino focuses on sourcing and underwriting potential acquisitions or dispositions and financing these transactions, and his responsibilities require him to prepare and coordinate all investment analysis and due diligence in support of these transactions. Since joining the firm in 2000, Mr. Ciaravino has worked on over 40 transactions valued in excess of $1 billion on properties including office and single-tenant retail in various cities throughout the US and he has secured construction and permanent financing, utilizing multiple lending sources from CMBS to insurance companies.

Previously, Mr. Ciaravino was employed by Tishman Speyer Properties, the Witkoff Group and Ernst & Young, where he was involved with more than two million square feet of transactions. Mr. Ciaravino holds a Master’s in Real Estate Investment from NYU and a BA in Accounting from Baruch College.

Leonard J. Kreppel

Leonard J. Kreppel
Director of Asset Management

As Director of Asset Management, Mr. Kreppel manages BCP’s national real estate portfolio. His specific responsibilities include acquiring property, redeveloping underperforming assets, supervising property sales as well as leasing, financing, managing and maintaining properties. He is a specialist in converting underperforming assets into first class facilities for public and private partners and tenants including New York State, the State of Oregon and the State of Washington. He has participated in numerous redevelopment projects and the sale of properties in every region of the county.


Mr. Kreppel has served as the firm’s representative on the board of several charities including the Inner City Scholarship Fund, New York Junior Tennis League, Plays for Living and the I Have a Dream Foundation.

Mr. Kreppel holds both a Master’s degree (International Development) and a Bachelor’s degree from Clark University.

Matthew M. Butts

Matthew M. Butts
Property Manager

As a Property Manager on the Asset Management team Mr. Butts is responsible for the general operations and tenant relations for many of the properties in the Northeast. His responsibilities include budget administration, project management and developing the long term capital programs for each property with a focus on increasing the operational efficiency of the properties. Prior to joining the Asset Management team, Mr. Butts worked for six years as the General Manager for Benenson owned 1600 Summer Street in Stamford, CT. He also worked for many years in the Boston area as a Property / Project Manager for The Flatley Company and Maloney Properties.

Mr. Butts has over 18 years of experience in property management, project management and facility operations of commercial, retail and residential properties. He attended Valley Forge Christian College in Phoenixville, PA.

Zakary J. Katzman

Zakary J. Katzman
Senior Director of Strategic Projects & Investments

As an Associate on the Investment Team, Mr. Katzman is primarily responsible for the financial analysis in support of Benenson Capital Partners’ direct investment, co-investment, redevelopment, financing, and re-tenanting initiatives.

Prior to joining Benenson Capital Partners, Mr. Katzman served as an analyst in the Acquisitions Group at Castellan Real Estate Partners. Mr. Katzman holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Real Estate and Finance from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, and a Master’s of Science in  Real Estate Finance & Investment from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University.

EMERITUS

James. E. Stifel

James. E. Stifel

As Chief Investment Officer and a member of the investment committee, Mr. Stifel played a major role in the development and implementation of the firm’s investment strategies while overseeing financing, underwriting and negotiations. After joining the firm in 1987, he also served as Managing Director for Acquisitions.

 

David P. Thomas

David P. Thomas

As Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Thomas was responsible for all accounting, tax, treasury and reporting functions.