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The Ireland-U.S. Council will present its Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2008
to Patrick Kelly for the remarkable business success he has achieved and the creditable
work he has done in building the business relationships between America and Ireland.
The award will be the centerpiece of the Council’s 46th Annual Dinner to be held
at the Metropolitan Club in New York City on Thursday, November 6, 2008.
Michael J. Gibbons, the President of the Council in New York, said “The members
and directors of the Council are very pleased to formally recognize the extraordinary
achievements of Paddy Kelly whose business interests have shaped a unique two-directional
flow of investment ventures across the Atlantic between the United States and the
Emerald Isle.”
Paddy Kelly
Chief Executive
Redquartz Developments
Mr. Kelly’s privately-held family investment corporation is pivotal in over $2 billion
in development projects either completed or underway in the United States. His Redquartz
Developments is a principal investor with Dublin-based Boundary Capital,
in structuring RQB Partners, the Ireland-based consortium that purchased
and is expanding the TPC Sawgrass Marriott development complex in Ponte Vedra
Beach, Florida. The property has over 500 rooms and will develop a new club wing,
and has entitlement for 500 additional condo units. . In Sarasota, also in the Sunshine
State, Kelly is the prime mover in a major redevelopment project in the city’s waterfront
area that will involve the building of 1.5 million square feet of hotel, offices,
residential and retail space.
Brian J. Goggin, President of the Council’s Chapter in Ireland noted “We are so
pleased to recognize the great contribution that Paddy Kelly has made to building
investment flows in both directions across the Atlantic. His business deals have
seen a major expansion of U.S. hospitality franchises entering Ireland. His company
is the lead shareholder in Choice Hotels Ireland which operates the three
Choice Hotels franchise brands from the United States: Clarion Hotels in
the four-star market segment, Quality Hotels which offers three-star service
and Comfort Inns which caters to the budget-conscious travel consumer. The
company sold the operating business of Quality and Comfort brands in 2006 to a consortium
led by Pat McCann, formerly of Jurys Doyle Hotel Group for $70 million. Choice
Hotels Ireland now has 2,571 rooms in Ireland and the UK. He is also the
main shareholder in Prem Group, which has 2,531 Rooms and 464 Apartments in Ireland,
UK and Europe.”
Mr. Goggin added “In addition to a major presence in the Irish real estate market,
Paddy Kelly’s four decades of consistent and successful investing have been characterized
by his notable philosophy of partnership as a way to access expertise and resources
and, at the same time, reduce the risk profile of projects. In building relationships
in the United States, in Ireland and in other places around the world, such as Russia
and Italy, he has moulded partnerships, consortiums and joint ventures that have
brought him great success and generated ambitious and highly-regarded real estate
developments.”
Paddy Kelly lives in Dublin with his wife Maureen. They have four children and six
grandchildren .
The Ireland-U.S. Council was founded in 1963 by American and Irish business
leaders. Its principal objective is to encourage closer business links between Ireland
and the United States. The Council operates a variety of scholarship and internship
programs, stages lectures, seminars and hosts frequent events in Ireland and in
America aimed at building communications between business and political leaders
on both sides of the Atlantic.
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