Irish builder faces eviction in the US as skyscraper plans stalled
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Friday October 16 2009
DUBLIN developer Garrett Kelleher’s company Shelbourne faces eviction from a lavish sales centre set up to market the troubled Chicago Spire skyscraper.
Shelbourne has not paid rent since April and owes more than $316,000 (€211,000), according to a complaint filed in a Chicago court.
Mr Kelleher’s firm rented an entire floor of the NBC tower in the centre of the midwest city and invested $10m to kit out the centre with a full-scale model of one of its apartments, conference rooms and meeting areas.
The company that owns the tower is suing the firm and will ask a judge today to order Shelbourne to resume paying rent until the eviction is decided.
Work halted a year ago on the lakefront spire, putting on hold the hugely ambitious plan to build the tallest residential tower in the world, a 2000ft, 150-storey, $2bn skyscraper. The architect and a number of contractors have all issued liens against Shelbourne, claiming they have not been paid.
In August, Bank of America sued both Shelbourne and Mr Kelleher personally over a $4.9m loan to pay for early development expenses.
Shelbourne, which continues to insist the project is still alive, described the eviction lawsuit as a typical landlord/tenant dispute “that we expect to be resolved amicably”.
“During our time there, we’ve experienced a few minor issues, and hope the management is more responsive to our concerns,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
The developers insist it does not owe any money as the owners of the building were given a substantial security deposit when the lease was signed.
- John Breslin
