Gerard Keating
Gerard Keating
Gerard J. Keating is a fifth-generation American entrepreneur and Founder and Co-owner of Keating Resources (KR). KR invests in real estate-based hard assets with existing or near-term cash flow and related operating companies located in right-to-work states.
Gerard was born in Atkinson, NE, a town of 1,200 people, to Dolores and John F. Keating in 1964. Growing up, he worked for his father at the Keating IH Dealership, and around their various cattle operations, watching his father buy, sell, trade, and operate the business. He first borrowed money at 14 years old to purchase livestock. In 1981, he left Atkinson to attend the University of Nebraska with the intent of returning to continue on the family business. That same year the farm crisis that had started in 1979 intensified with interest rates hitting 21.5%, and land, crop, and livestock values declining. After generations of continuous business, John F. Keating closed Keating IH in 1984 to preserve capital. One year later, in 1985, more banks failed than any other time since the 1930’s. Gerard’s dream of returning to the family business vanished, and rural America has never recovered.
Gerard purchased his first real estate in May of 1986 with his brother Matt while attending the University of Nebraska. The duo purchased a residential duplex and home and added value by remodeling, which doubled income and tripled their equity investment in 5 years. He was elected Student Body President of the University in 1986, and graduated with a degree in Agribusiness. After university, he went at Shonka Real Estate in O’Neill, NE from 1988-89, and then Progress West in Omaha, NE where he strengthened his skills in loan underwriting and risk analysis.
In 1991 he moved to Chicago, IL. He worked at Hiffman Shaffer Associates (HSA) from 1991-1999. He was awarded the top salesperson in 1996 at 32 years old, the same year he made his first million dollars. In 1999 Gerard and 9 others cofounded NAI Hiffman, today the largest privately owned Commercial Real Estate firm in the Midwest.
In 2004, Gerard founded Keating Resources, continuing family business for a fifth generation. He went on to lead the acquisition and value add of the largest contiguous farm in the United States, the Louisiana Delta Plantation, in 2004. He and his partners added value by ?? and made ??. In 2006, Gerard acquired the Port of Will County in Joliet Illinois. The industrial park and materials superhub had a barge terminal on the Illinois River, grain silos, a grain container loading facility, and a 300,000 gallon water tower. He then leased parts of the industrial park to Union Pacific and BNSF, which is now home to the UP-Intermodal Terminal in Joliet. He retained the subsurface rights on the site and built the first and only underground private dolomite limestone mine in Chicagoland.
After the Great Financial Crisis, he changed his focus to Florida. In 2014 he purchased the largest vacant industrial building closest to Miami International Airport. He brought the 500,000 sf building from 0% to 100% occupancy in 12 months and sold the site to LPC. From 2015-2021 he purchased, built, and sold over 1,000,000 sf of industrial space in Tampa, FL. One of the projects was the state of the art Tampa Fulfillment Center, located 5 minutes from downtown, which sold in 2021 for a record cap rate in Tampa.
Gerard’s son and now partner Alec joined the firm in 2020 during COVID. Since then they focused their investments in Texas and South Dakota. They purchased and sold 400,000 sf of warehouse space in Dallas, TX, several hundred acres near Waco and 20 acres near Austin Bergstrom. In the Black Hills of South Dakota, they purchased over 2,000 acres, which is now 300 developed home lots across four communities. One of their communities is Deer Mountain Village, the highest end community in the region and one of the only private ski communities in the United States. They also purchased the largest building in Deadwood, SD, where over 1.5B is wagered per year, and opened the Landmark Casino in 2024.
Over his career Gerard has completed over 1B in transactions, and has owned multifamily, industrial, retail, office, agriculture, restaurants, vacant land, rail ports, river ports, mines, casinos, and a ski mountain, across 9 states.
“My retirement will be announced in my obituary.”
— Gerard J. Keating