Garrett Kelleher

Garrett Kelleher in 2007

Garrett Kelleher is an Irish real estate developer and businessman with additional corporate interests in finance, film and education.

Early life and education

Kelleher was born in Dublin, Ireland. Educated at Belvedere College, ^[1] Kelleher first went to the United States on a tennis scholarship. He then studied mathematics at Trinity College Dublin. ^[1]

Career

After completing his education, Kelleher returned to the US in 1985 owning and running a contracting and development business primarily involved in loft conversion in Chicago, employing more 120 people. He moved back to Dublin in 1996 and created Shelbourne Development, ^[2] which focused primarily on core Dublin projects - redeveloping urban brownfield sites. Before the 2008 economic crash, Shelbourne was active in the London, Paris and Brussels. Kelleher is based mainly in Chicago and Los Angeles while dealing with claims for almost €47 million sought by the National Asset Management Agency ('NAMA') back in Ireland. ^[3]

Kelleher is also the non-executive director of Lightstream Pictures. ^[4] Lightstream ^[5] produced Max Rose, ^[6] starring Jerry Lewis and Rampart ^[7] with Woody Harrelson and has other projects in work.

Kelleher is the Executive Chairman of St. Patrick's Athletic, ^[8] financing their 2013 League of Ireland Premier Division and 2014, 2021 & 2023 FAI Cup winning campaigns. ^[9]

At the request of Mayor Daley, Garrett was involved with the Chicago's 2016 bid for the Olympics.

In July 2006 Kelleher stepped in and bought a site at the intersection of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan after an earlier developer failed to close on the land. The 2.2-acre (8,900 m²) site would have housed the now-cancelled Chicago Spire. It would have been the tallest building in the US, and the world's tallest exclusively residential building. However, having started construction in 2007, his development company, Shelbourne Development Ltd, ran into financial difficulties during the global financial crisis and failed to secure further funding. The project eventually collapsed causing large losses for Shelbourne's creditors and the site was signed over to a creditor as part of bankruptcy processing in 2014. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Kelleher sits on the Board of Regents at Ave Maria University in Florida. Opened in 2003 the university recognizes the importance of creating and maintaining an environment in which faith informs the life of the community. Kelleher also held the Chairmanship of Legatus in Ireland in 2006 which has aims of "To study live and spread the Faith in our business, professional and personal lives". ^{[13] [14] [15]}

Kelleher is a large shareholder in Dolmen Securities which was recently purchased by Cantor Fitzgerald. Kelleher sat on the advisory board of the US-Ireland Alliance. ^[16]

Kelleher was involved in multiple lawsuits against NAMA including, in early 2018, launching a US$1.2 billion lawsuit via a 60-page complaint lodged with the Federal District Court in Illinois, USA; alleging that the agency destroyed the developer's chances of building the Chicago Spire through a combination of "sheer spite" and "consistent incompetence" on the part of certain of its officials. ^[17] The case was dismissed in 2019. ^[18]

Personal life

Garrett is married to Maeve Kelleher, and they have seven children. Maeve is or has been on the board of some of Garrett Kelleher's companies. Between 2006 and 2014 she was a board member of Iona Institute. ^{[19] [20]}

References

1. "He reached for the sky". independent.
2. "Shelbourne Development: Our People". Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015., "Shelbourne Development" retrieved February 12, 2015.
3. Carolin, Mary (23 July 2014). "Nama pursues developer Garrett Kelleher for €47m". Business. Dublin. Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
4. "People". Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.. Lightstream Pictures Bios Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
5. . Lightstream IMDB Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
6. . Max Rose Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
7. . Rampart IMDB Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
8. "Club Directory". Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.. St. Patrick's Athletic Board & Staff Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
9. . St. Patrick's Athletic FAI Cup win Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
10. Lyons,Tom. "Irish developer to build $1.2bn Chicago tower", "Independent", July 21, 2006. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
11. "Calatrava Dances onto a New Stage". Bloomberg Businessweek. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
12. "It's official: The Chicago Spire is dead". chicagobusiness.com. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
13. "Public Site: Legatus Membership". Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
14. "Home". Archived from the original on 31 July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
15. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.. Ave Maria University Catalogue 2011-2012 Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
16. . US Ireland Alliance Bio Retrieved on February 12, 2015.
17. Quinlan, Ronald (5 March 2018). "Garrett Kelleher pursuing Nama for $1.2bn over Chicago Spire project". Irish Independent. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
18. "US court dismisses Kelleher's €1bn case against Nama". independent. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
19. "What Exactly Is the Iona Institute?". Bock the Robber. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
20. "Lolek Company Limited BY Guarantee". Duedil . Retrieved 21 December 2016.