Thomas J. Flatley, 76, real estate magnate and philanthropist, dies
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr. and and Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff
Thomas J. Flatley, a frugal, driven Irish immigrant who rose from Army enlistee to real estate magnate and became one of the richest men in the United States, died early this morning, his family confirmed.
Mr. Flatley, who was 76 and lived in Milton, had been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
With determination and a strong Irish brogue, Mr. Flatley became a real estate king in the Boston area before there was a lot of competition, building a portfolio of suburban commercial properties once unrivaled in the region. He often said with pride that he did so without borrowing more than 40 percent of the value of his holdings.
"He just was the hardest-working guy there was," said Rob Griffin, president of Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc., a commercial brokerage. "Morning, noon, and night, that was his passion, that was his everything. He was always thinking about adding to his portfolio. It wasn't for adding to his wealth, he never wanted to be idle. In his mind if he wasn't moving forward he was moving backward."
Renowned for working 80-hour weeks, Mr. Flatley drove his workers nearly as hard as himself and was known for making all key business decisions on his own. An employee once remarked that an order of new paper clips had to be approved by the boss.
While work motivated his life, Mr. Flatley also attended Mass daily at St. Agatha Church in Milton and enjoyed playing fast-paced handball games with the likes of former state attorney general Francis X. Bellotti.
Friends say Mr. Flatley had continued to work as much as possible during his illness, going into his office even after he needed the assistance of a wheelchair. He had sold two huge portfolios of residential and retail holdings over the last couple of years, at or near the peak of the market.
"When I leave this world, I don't take anything with me," he told the Globe in 1990 for a profile. "I wind up with 36 square feet."
Born in Ireland, he grew up on his family's 25-acre farm in County Mayo. He moved to New York at age 19, and enlisted in the US Army for two years, then moved north to Boston. He ran a plumbing business for a few years and soon moved into real estate, building two Quincy apartment buildings with a total of 33 units in 1958.
Though developing commercial buildings would make him rich, those first apartment buildings set the successful model for Mr. Flatley's lifelong strategy. Eschewing the hassles and expense of urban projects, he built short, flat buildings in the suburbs, rather than monumental skyscrapers.
Mr. Flatley leaves his wife Charlotte, five children, and 18 grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
