OUR TEAM
Lawrence F. Levy
Co-Founder
Founder of both Levy Family Partners and Diversified Real Estate Capital, with more than 50 years of experience in the Commercial Real Estate Industry.
Major real estate developments have included River Point, a 1.1 million square foot office building in partnership with Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge; 321 N. Clark in Chicago; Park Tower at Transbay in San Francisco, developed with The John Buck Co. and Golub & Co. and recently leased to Facebook; The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Center; One South Dearborn, in partnership with Hines; One Magnificent Mile; and Woodfield Lake Office Campus. Over 10 million SF developed.
Significant investor in multifamily real estate projects in major US markets through Diversified and interests in Waypoint Residential and Redhill Realty investors.
Developed and owned hotel and resort projects in the United States and internationally, including a current interest in Esperanza Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Developed Levy Restaurants into an internationally recognized food service organization with the market leading share in sports and entertainment catering throughout North America and Europe.
Currently the Chairman of the Board of Del Taco Restaurants (NASDAQ: TACO) and owns a significant stake in Del Taco and Blaze Pizza.
Through his family office, Larry has been a successful private equity and venture investors with stakes in such diverse companies as Intensity Therapeutics, Cleversafe, Home Depot Supply, Organic Life, Lakeview Investment Group, Nest, Popchips, Signal, SpaceX, Uber, Peloton, and Swipesense.
Larry and his wife Carol created and endowed the Levy Institute of Entrepreneurial Practice and the Levy Social Entrepreneur Lab at Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Larry serves on the boards of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Lincoln Park Zoo, the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Larry received his B.S. and M.B.A. at Northwestern University.
Michael L. Miller
Co-Founder, Executive Vice President
During his leadership, Diversified has purchased, owned and/or developed more than $4 billion of Class AA+ real estate.
More than 35 years of experience in the real estate industry which includes acquisition, ownership, financing, re-development and sale of commercial real estate.
Acquired Baird & Warner Real Estate Capital, one of the nation’s leading mortgage brokers, in 1997 in a leveraged buyout. Acting as Principal, increased loan servicing portfolio from $400 million to $1.2 Billion, and mortgage loan production from $300 million annually to over $1 Billion. Sold the company to a national mortgage banking company in 2007.
Holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Serves on the Board of College Bound Opportunities and active as a tutor for Refugee One.
Jeffrey S. Cherner
Co-founder, Executive Vice President
During his leadership, Diversified has purchased, owned and/or developed more than $4 billion of Class AA+ real estate.
More than 35 years of experience in the real estate industry which includes acquisition, ownership, financing, re-development and sale of commercial real estate, as well as expertise in structuring of tax enhanced partnerships for syndication.
Acquired Baird & Warner Real Estate Capital, one of the nation’s leading mortgage brokers, in 1997 in a leveraged buyout. Acting as Principal, increased loan servicing portfolio from $400 million to $1.2 Billion, and mortgage loan production from $300 million annually to over $1 Billion. Sold the company to a national mortgage banking company in 2007.
Holds an undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University and is a CPA.
Jeffrey R. Hanisch
Chief Financial Officer
Has more than 35 years of experience in the real estate industry including asset management, compliance, financial analysis, financial reporting and income taxation.
Has held several real estate executive positions.
Holds an undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University and is a CPA.
Michael C. Jackson
Vice President of Asset Management
Over 25 years of related real estate experience including asset management, construction management, and logistics management.
Holds an undergraduate degree in engineering from the University of Texas and MBA from DePaul University.
Served in the U.S. Marine Corps
Chip Wille
Senior Director of Asset Management
Over 11 years of industry experience including real estate private equity, leasing, construction, and operations management.
Previously held positions at Hines and UBS.
Holds an undergraduate degree in Finance from Miami University and MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.