Lakewest Venture Partners

Overview

Lakewest, Inc. is a real estate and private equity investment company located in Chicago, Illinois. Lakewest is an affiliate of Belgravia Group, Ltd., a leading Chicago residential developer, and was initiated by David W. 'Buzz' Ruttenberg, founder of Belgravia Group. The company is operated by Buzz Ruttenberg and Jonathan W. McCulloch.\\Lakewest is a developer of retail shopping centers, a purchaser of prime, infill real estate assets, and an investor in other opportunistic business ventures (see below). Its recent real estate activities include acquisitions of infill Chicago retail centers, four Chicago Loop parking garages, a distressed condominium development in Chicago's West Loop, a student housing complex in San Marcos, Texas, and the creation of a joint venture to provide a first mortgage credit facility to an acquirer of foreclosure auction properties.\\Lakewest Venture Partners (LVP), an affiliate of Lakewest, Inc., was formed to pursue seed and early stage investment opportunities with a focus on Chicago-based startup companies. The partnership is led by Buzz Ruttenberg, David Mann and Jonathan McCulloch. LVP has made investments in companies ranging from $50,000 to over $3MM utilizing both in-house equity and by fund-raising through existing investor relationships.