Richard (Rich) brings 40 years of real estate experience to Avison Young. Prior to joining Avison Young he was the founder and a Principal of Mesa Development. While there, he led the conceptualization, entitlement and construction of projects valued in excess of $1 billion, including the 356-unit Heritage at Millennium Park condominium tower, the 356-unit Legacy at Millennium Park condominium tower and the 213-unit Three Sixty Residences condominium tower in San Jose, California.  In Chicago, the development of the Heritage at Millennium Park established a new high water mark for luxury living in the Loop, led to a rebirth of Wabash Avenue and contributed greatly to the Chicago skyline.  These contributions continued with the development of the Legacy at Millennium Park which further defined the skyline of Chicago when viewed from Millennium Park.

Prior to forming Mesa, Rich spent 16 years in real estate development as President of Stein & Company and its successor Mesirow Stein Real Estate, where he oversaw the development of such major projects as the Franklin Center, formerly AT&T Corporate Center, the Goodman Theater, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, the United Center, US Cellular Field, McCormick Place South Hall, 203 N. LaSalle Street and over $5 billion of private and public development and brokerage businesses.  He was also involved in the transformation of the Orlando Naval Training Center, the Glenview Naval Air Station, and Fort Sheridan to private use.  Prior to Stein & Company, he spent over 15 years at Coopers & Lybrand (today PriceWaterhouseCoopers) where he completed his tenure as Chairman of the Real Estate Practice overseeing 93 offices in the United States.

Credentials

Rich’s professional affiliations include the Counselors of Real Estate (past Chair), Urban Land Institute (lifetime achievement award winner, Chicago Council),  NAIOP (past President, Chicago chapter) and the Real Estate Investment Association (past President). He has also played leading roles with not-for-profit organizations, including DePaul University Board of Trustees (past Chair of property committee), Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (treasurer), City College of Chicago Foundation, Civic Federation and Lawson House YMCA (past Chair).