BOSTON– Hospitality industry innovator and real estate developer Richard “Dick” Friedman received the first-ever ICON Award from Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration during the school’s annual Hospitality Leadership Summit earlier this month,
Friedman, President and CEO of Carpenter & Company, Inc., was honored during a virtual Alumni Weekend celebration recognizing hospitality industry excellence.
With a portfolio of hotel and mixed-use developments that spans more than four decades, 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. The resulting properties are award-winning, iconic and commercially successful.
Under Friedman’s leadership, Carpenter & Company has built an impressive portfolio of high-end developments. Its most recent notable project is the Four Seasons One Dalton Hotel and Private Residences, a Four Seasons luxury development consisting of 215 hotel rooms and 161 condominiums all designed by legendary architect Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb & Freed Partners, and CambridgeSeven. The tallest residential building in Boston, One Dalton has become a new fixture of Boston’s skyline.
Among Mr. Friedman’s other noteworthy projects is the conversion of Boston’s iconic and historic Charles Street Jail into the luxury hotel the Liberty Hotel. The Liberty Hotel was granted landmark status on the National Register of Historic Places and won multiple Preservation Awards from the Bostonian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Boston Preservation Alliance, and the Victorian Society of America. The Liberty was also listed as one of the Best New Business Hotels by Fortune Magazine and Travel + Leisure.
Other prominent Friedman hotel developments include 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. In addition to his company’s developments all having achieved financial success and civic praise, they have been honored recipients of numerous design 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.
Not one to slow down, Friedman’s Carpenter & Company is currently developing a 250-room, $160 million EDITION Hotel in Reykjavik, Iceland set on the harbor adjacent to Harpa, the city’s stunning concert and conference hall, The Edition will be Icelands’s first five-star hotel. Additionally, Carpenter & Company is finalizing development of the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences New Orleans. Mr. Friedman also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Worldwide for seven years, from May 2013 to January 2020, helping to guide its global expansion and design quality at a time of exciting growth and change for the brand.
Asked to comment on the award and his career, Friedman said, “I’m thrilled and honored to receive this award from the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration for doing something I love. I have always loved hotels. They are exciting and fun and when done well, add some glamour to people’s everyday lives.”
In addition to his distinguished real estate portfolio, Mr. Friedman is known for his long-standing dedication to civic service. In 2000, President Bill Clinton appointed Friedman as Chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission where he led its Interagency Security Task Force. President Barak Obama appointed Friedman to the President’s Export Council in 2010 where he served as the Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Manufacturing and Services. In addition to the Four Seasons Board seat Friedman serves or has served on numerous businesses civic and charitable boards and has been a key charitable contributor to numerous local and national charities.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, Friedman attended Dartmouth College and later served as a Second Lieutenant in the Signal Corps of the United States Army. From 1965 to 1971, he was the head coach of the Harvard College ski team.
