Morton La Kretz is a real estate developer and the founder of Crossroads Management, a property management company managing a portfolio of industrial, commercial and residential properties throughout the Los Angeles basin. Crossroads of the World, a historic landmark in Hollywood built in 1936, is the most well known of these properties. Morton began his career in the early 1950’s, first working for contractors but quickly striking out on his own.
Morton’s philanthropic work focuses on education, the environment and conservation. Among those works of which he is most proud are: the La Kretz Innovation Campus at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator; UCLA’s La Kretz Hall, which is the first building at UCLA to receive accreditation under the LEED Green Building Rating System and houses the Institute of the Environment; the UCLA La Kretz Garden Pavilion; Cal State L.A.’s La Kretz Hall of Sciences; and the La Kretz Watershed Garden at TreePeople headquarters, providing a visual environment in which children can learn about water conservation.
Morton considers himself a true L.A. native, having lived here virtually all of his life and spending considerable time getting to know its neighborhoods, architecture and history. He holds a B.A. degree from UCLA.