Larry L. Gellerstedt III
Partner
Sweetwater Holdings
Larry Gellerstedt III is a partner in Sweetwater Holdings Company, a privately held, Atlanta-based real estate investment firm. He is also the retired CEO and president of Cousins Properties, where he currently serves as Executive Chairman of the Board.
During his tenure with Cousins, Larry steered the company to focus on acquiring, developing and operating urban trophy assets in high-growth Sunbelt markets while maintaining a conservative balance sheet. Most notably, he led the negotiation and execution of two successful mergers taking Cousins’ equity market cap from $665 million to over $6 billion.
Larry began his career at Beers Construction Company in 1978 where he would become Chairman and CEO, leading the company to annual revenues in excess of $1.2 billion and the company’s eventual sale to Skanska AB.
He also has held positions as President and COO of The Integral Group and as Chairman and CEO of American Business Products before launching The Gellerstedt Group which Cousins acquired in 2005.
Larry currently serves on the Boards of Georgia Power Company, Brown & Brown Insurance, and United Distributors; and as Vice Chairman of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.
In his 35+ year career, Gellerstedt has received accolades such as Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Atlanta Business League’s CEO of the Year, and Georgia Trend magazine’s Georgia’s "100 Most Influential People."
