{{short description|Irish property developer and music venue operator}} {{Not to be confused with|Harry Crosby (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2023}} {{infobox person | honorific_prefix = OBE | image = Harry Crosbie (cropped).jpg | caption = Crosbie at the opening night of his Grand Canal Theatre on 18 March 2010 | occupation = Property developer | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|75|2021|3|9}}<ref name="book">{{Cite web |last=McGreevy |first=Ronan |date=9 March 2021 |title=Harry Crosbie: 'My book is an attempt at capturing a world which is now gone' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/harry-crosbie-my-book-is-an-attempt-at-capturing-a-world-which-is-now-gone-1.4504464 |access-date=17 October 2023 |publisher=Irish Times}}</ref> | birth_place = Dublin, Ireland<ref name="indo2006">{{Cite web |date=12 November 2006 |title=Harry Crosbie The CV |url=https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/harry-crosbie-the-cv/26418497.html |access-date=17 October 2023 |website=independent.ie}}</ref> }}
'''Harry Crosbie''', (born 1945 or 1946) is an Irish property developer and entrepreneur from the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carty |first=Pat |date=3 December 2021 |title=Book Review: Harry Crosbie - Undernose Farm Revisited |url=https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/book-review-harry-crosbie-undernose-farm-revisited-22883862 |website=Hotpress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Toole |first=Fintan |author-link=Fintan O'Toole |date=19 July 2014 |title=Bord Gáis theatre sale 'barbarous', says Harry Crosbie |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/bord-g%C3%A1is-theatre-sale-barbarous-says-harry-crosbie-1.1871418 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Quinlan |first=Ronald |date=25 May 2014 |title=Harry Crosbie in court challenge to Nama over seizure of theatre |url=https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/harry-crosbie-in-court-challenge-to-nama-over-seizure-of-theatre-30302085.html |publisher=Irish Independent}}</ref> He is known for his work in redeveloping the Dublin Docklands, and his association with arts and events venues in Dublin city, including the Convention Centre, Vicar Street,<ref name="NewVenue">{{Cite news |last=McGreevy |first=Ronan |date=28 September 2023 |title=Plans for Dublin to get new 2,000-seater music and arts venue |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2023/09/28/plans-for-dublin-to-get-new-2000-seater-music-and-arts-venue-to-fill-gaps-in-the-market/ |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> The Point Depot/3Arena and the Grand Canal Theatre,<ref name="harry1">{{Cite web |last=Fagan |first=Jack |date=9 July 2014 |title=Harry Crosbie's Bord Gáis theatre for sale at €20m |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/harry-crosbie-s-bord-g%C3%A1is-theatre-for-sale-at-20m-1.1859385 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref name="open">{{Cite web |last=Carbery |first=Genevieve |date=19 March 2010 |title=Grand Unveiling: New Theatre Opens Its Doors With 'Swan Lake' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/grand-unveiling-new-theatre-opens-its-doors-with-swan-lake-1.639629 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 April 2013 |title=Receivers appointed to companies behind former Grand Canal Theatre and Point Village |url=http://www.thejournal.ie/grand-canal-theatre-point-village-receivership-876249-Apr2013/ |publisher=TheJournal.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lyons |first=Tom |date=16 May 2014 |title=Docklands king's downfall – why Nama pursued Harry Crosbie |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/docklands-king-s-downfall-why-nama-pursued-harry-crosbie-1.1797727 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> as well as the Point Village,<ref name="Dunnes">{{Cite news |last1=Keena |first1=Colm |last2=Quinlan |first2=Ronald |date=18 August 2023 |title=Dunnes Stores begins work on fit-out of Point Village anchor unit in Dublin |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2023/08/18/dunnes-stores-begins-work-on-fitout-of-point-village-anchor-unit-in-dublin/ |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dunnes settle Point row with Crosbie |url=http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=2630170;s=rollingnews.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614074418/http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=2630170%3Bs%3Drollingnews.htm |archive-date=14 June 2011 |access-date=15 July 2010 |website=BusinessWorld.ie |via=WayBack Machine}}</ref> and the Wheel of Dublin ferris wheel.<ref name="irishtimes27072010">{{Cite web |last=Gartland |first=Fiona |date=27 July 2010 |title=Giant Dublin wheel gives bird's-eye view |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/giant-dublin-wheel-gives-bird-s-eye-view-1.861665 |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 April 2021 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>
==Early life==
Crosbie grew up on Clonliffe Road in Drumcondra. His father came from East Wall in the Dublin Docklands, where he later ran a haulage business and acquired a large landbank beside Dublin Port. He was educated at the private boarding school Rockwell College.<ref name="IT_ivw_100626">{{Cite news |last=McCann |first=Fionn |date=26 June 2010 |title='I can't imagine how tough it is for ordinary people out there' (The Saturday Interview: Harry Crosbie) |work=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/i-can-t-imagine-how-tough-it-is-for-ordinary-people-out-there-1.683721 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Developments==
===The Point Theatre and O2=== Crosbie bought the closed CIE Points Works in Dublin's Docklands depot for 750,000 Irish pounds in 1988, and redeveloped it into the Point Theatre, later expanded as the Point Depot, and then the O2, now known as the 3Arena, Ireland's biggest music and event venue.<ref name="IT_ivw_100626" /><ref name="IIndo_Meagher">{{Cite news |last=Meagher |first=John |date=20 July 2014 |title=Harry Crosbie: The man who dreamed too big |url=https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/harry-crosbie-the-man-who-dreamed-too-big/30441938.html |work=The Irish Independent}}</ref> NAMA made Crosbie sell his 50% share of the O2 (to the co-owner of the O2 Live Nation) for €35 million in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sheena |date=2014-02-24 |title=Live Nation completes purchase of The O2 in Dublin's Docklands |url=https://entertainment.ie/music/live-nation-completes-purchase-of-the-o2-in-dublins-docklands-267491/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Entertainment.ie}}</ref>
===''Kittiwake''=== thumb|The ''Kittiwake'' in February 2009
In 2007,<ref name="afloat2011">{{Cite web |last=Ashmore |first=Jehan |date=4 August 2011 |title=Crosbie's Café Lightship Plan Rejected |url=https://afloat.ie/port-news/dun-laoghaire-news/item/16410-crosbie%E2%80%99s-caf%C3%A9-lightship-plan-rejected/ |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=afloat.ie}}</ref> Crosbie purchased from the Commissioners of Irish Lights the ''Kittiwake'', a 1950s 40-metre light ship, built by Philip and Son in Dartmouth, Devon.<ref name="KittiwakeVideoIT">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/video/video/2022/12/29/481-tonne-ship-lifted-out-of-dublin-port-will-be-restored-and-put-on-public-display/ |title=481-tonne ship lifted out of Dublin port will be restored and put on public display |date=29 December 2022 |last=Betson |first=Alan |format=video |website=The Irish Times}}</ref> It was the second-last lightship to serve in Irish waters, ending service in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Lightship - The Kittiwake |url=https://excellentstreetimages.com/dublin-street-photography/areas-of-dublin/docklands/boats-and-ships/old-lightship/index.html |website=Dublin Street Images}}</ref><ref name="IIndo_210502" /> He had plans to lift it from the Liffey onto the quayside but was unable to reach agreement on a dry land location with the local authority. He had work done on the ship anyway, removing engines and asbestos, with a view to opening a cafe inside it, and stated that over half a million euro had been spent on the project.<ref name="IIndo_210502">{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Liam |date=2 May 2021 |title=Docklands developer Harry Crosbie seeks the return of 'Kittiwake' lightship |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/docklands-developer-harry-crosbie-seeks-the-return-of-kittiwake-lightship/40378302.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231120015554/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/docklands-developer-harry-crosbie-seeks-the-return-of-kittiwake-lightship/40378302.html |archive-date=20 November 2023 |work=Independent.ie}}</ref> The port authority, the Dublin Port Company, said that they had purchased the boat from the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) in 2012, and lifted it from the Alexandra Basin West, in December 2022,<ref name="KittiwakeVideoIT" /> for future display in a heritage area on the Alexandra Road. Crosbie disputed both the purported sale and the move, and threatened legal action.<ref name="afloat2021">{{Cite web |last=Ashmore |first=Jehan |date=3 May 2021 |title=Dublin 'Docklands' Developer Harry Crosbie Seeks Return of former Lightship 'Kittiwake' |url=https://afloat.ie/sail/historic-boats/item/50183-dublin-docklands-developer-harry-crosbie-seeks-return-of-former-lightship-kittiwake |website=afloat.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Olivia |date=29 December 2022 |title=Harry Crosbie threatens legal action against Dublin Port Company over ship ownership |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2022/12/29/harry-crosbie-threatens-legal-action-against-dublin-port-company-over-ship-ownership/ |url-access=subscription |work=The Irish Times}}</ref>
===Bord Gáis Energy Theatre===
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority & Joe O'Reilly built a large theatre on the Grand Canal Docks south of the Point, commissioning Daniel Libeskind to design it.<ref name="IIndo_Meagher" /> Later known as the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. On completion Crosbie bought the theatre for €10 million. It opened in March 2010. In 2013 NAMA appointed a receiver to the theatre and sold it for €30 million to Crownway Investments in 2014.<ref name="IIndo_Meagher" />
===The Point Village and later developments=== Crosbie planned a multi-element development north of the Point Theatre, to include a hotel (now the Gibson), a shopping centre, apartments, office space, the 39-storey "Watchtower" which was to be the tallest building in Ireland, a "U2 Experience", a ferris wheel and a sculpture.<ref name="IIndo_Meagher" /><ref name="Dunnes" /> At one point, he had budgetary plans for investment of about 850 million euro in this.<ref name="IT_ivw_100626" /> As Crosbie was unable to repay his €430 million debt to NAMA, NAMA appointed receivers to all of Crosbie's assets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daly |first=Gavin |date=2014-05-18 |title=Crosbie alleges Nama reneged on deal |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/e6969677-0a6a-4767-87ec-af44c85ab896 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=The Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-04-23 |title=NAMA's receivership appointments at Harry Crosbie companies |url=https://namawinelake.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/namas-receivership-appointments-at-harry-crosbie-companies/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=NAMA Wine Lake}}</ref>
In 2017, NAMA sold the Gibson Hotel in the Point Village to Deka Immobilien for €87 million<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gibson Hotel in docklands' Point Village for sale at €87m |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/gibson-hotel-in-docklands-point-village-for-sale-at-87m-1.3198260 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=The Irish Times}}</ref> and in 2022 The Point Village was sold by NAMA for €85 million.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nama generates €85m from selling Point Square scheme |url=https://www.independent.ie/business/commercial-property/nama-generates-85m-from-selling-point-square-scheme/41552015.html |access-date=2024-10-08 |work=Irish Independent}}</ref>
==Recognition==
In 2012, Crosbie was awarded an honorary OBE, being invested by the British Ambassador to Ireland in Glencairn House, in recognition of services to Anglo-Irish cultural relations and for organising an event during the state visit by Elizabeth II to Ireland in 2011.<ref name="IndoOBE">{{Cite web |last=Heffernan |first=Breda |date=20 October 2012 |title=The name's Crosbie, Harry Crosbie -- family man gets OBE |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-names-crosbie-harry-crosbie-family-man-gets-obe/28821271.html |website=Independent.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Halloran |first=Marie |date=19 October 2012 |title=Harry Crosbie receives honorary OBE |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/harry-crosbie-receives-honorary-obe-1.743748 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Crosbie is married for the second time, his first wife, with whom he had three children ( Claire,Alison and Simon) having died. He has eight grandchildren(Layla,Maisie,Martha,Eleanor,Max,Joe,Lizzy and Kate) /> He moved from a large house on Shrewsbury Road to a converted warehouse on Hanover Quay in the Docklands.<ref name="IT_ivw_100626" /> He published a book of short stories in 2021.<ref name="book" />
==Publications==
*{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Harry |title=Undernose Farm Revisited |date=October 2022 |publisher=Lilliput Press |place=Dublin |isbn=978-1843518150}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosbie, Harry}} Category:People from Drumcondra, Dublin Category:1940s births Category:Living people Category:Honorary officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Irish businesspeople in the real estate industry Category:Entertainment in the Republic of Ireland Category:21st-century Irish male writers Category:Writers from Dublin (city) Category:20th-century Irish businesspeople