Garrett Kelleher is the founder and Executive Chairman of Shelbourne Development, a Dublin development and real estate firm, and is acknowledged as one of Ireland’s most innovative property entrepreneurs. Kelleher is the owner of the Irish football club St Patrick's Athletic FC

St Patrick's Athletic F.C.

St Patrick's Athletic Football Club is a football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Founded in 1929, they are based in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore and play their home matches at Richmond Park. They have won the League of Ireland title 7 times and...

 and a significant shareholder in Dolmen Securities, a Dublin based regulated stock brokerage, investment advisor and corporate finance house. Kelleher is a former Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 resident, who currently lives in Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

.
Educated at Belvedere College

Belvedere College

Belvedere College SJ is a private secondary school for boys located on Great Denmark Street, Dublin, Ireland. It is also known as St. Francis Xavier's College....

, he first moved to the United States in 1978 to attend California University of Pennsylvania

California University of Pennsylvania

California University of Pennsylvania is a public university located in California, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded in 1852, it is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Cal U's enrollment is approximately 9,400.The main campus consists of about 38 buildings situated on 92 acres...

 on a tennis scholarship. He moved back to Ireland to attend Trinity College Dublin from 1980 to 1983. Years later, he moved to Chicago and started a painting business that eventually had a crew of about 120 workers. He kept the business for about 10 years.

His first development was a remodel of a building at 1655 W. Cortland Street in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood.

Kelleher was a commercial painting contractor in Chicago in the 1990s. He used the money he made in Chicago to participate in real estate construction in Ireland and closed his Chicago business as his Irish interests claimed more of his time. In 1995 Kelleher left Chicago, to return to Ireland where he founded Shelbourne Development.

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 acres (8,903.1 m²) site would have housed the now cancelled The Chicago Spire designed by internationally renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava

Santiago Calatrava

Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....

. It would have been the tallest building in the US, and the world’s tallest exclusively residential building.

In June 2007 Kelleher appointed a new board of directors to St Patrick's Athletic FC

St Patrick's Athletic F.C.

St Patrick's Athletic Football Club is a football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Founded in 1929, they are based in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore and play their home matches at Richmond Park. They have won the League of Ireland title 7 times and...

, naming himself as Chairman. Having acquired the club earlier in 2007 he commented that “We have long-term ambitions for this football club which would establish it as a force in the European game."

Kelleher also sits on the Board of Regents at Ave Maria University

Ave Maria University

Ave Maria University or AMU is a private Catholic university in southwest Florida, United States, founded in 2003. The university moved to its permanent campus, situated in the planned town of Ave Maria, east of Naples, Florida, in August 2007...

 in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. 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".

External links

• Shy developer is trumping a master to build tallest tower - unison.ie
• Developer who woke up London
• Developer in new league - Chicago Tribune
  Chicago Tribune
  The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...