Gerald T. Halpin
Founder, President and CEO
Chairman of the Board of Directors
WEST*GROUP
RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPERIENCE WITH WEST*GROUP: Mr. Halpin serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of WEST*GROUP MANAGEMENT LLC. In 1962, he founded Westgate Corporation, serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Since that time, he has founded and served as President of more than 100 other WEST*GROUP affiliated corporations and partnerships involved in the development and management of real estate. He oversees all departments at WEST*GROUP including financing, accounting, planning and development, legal, construction, leasing, property management, business development and corporate administration. From the initial investment and planning to the completion and oversight of each real estate project, Mr. Halpin has been responsible for the development, redevelopment or construction of more than 12 million square feet of office, retail, residential, resort, and industrial space for WEST*GROUP affiliates. Mr. Halpin and his associates introduced the concept of the quality, mixed-use, master-planned office park to the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area. He and his co-founders, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Ewing, and the late Rudolph Seeley initiated the development of the area known as Tysons Corner when they purchased a 125-acre farm in 1962, becoming partners with their neighbors, the Ulfelders, who had owned the adjoining property since 1923. The four principals were the first to build office, R&D, and apartment buildings in the Tysons area. Since that time Mr. Halpin has developed four beautifully landscaped office parks located on prime sites near major transportation arteries. These include WEST*GATE and WEST*PARK Office Parks in Tysons Corner, Virginia as well as WEST*FARM and WEST*QUEST Technology Parks in suburban Maryland.
In addition, Mr. Halpin has extensive experience in the development of hotels and resorts, serving as Chairman of Alexandria Management Corporation, which has owned six hotels and operated seven hotels in the mid-Atlantic region. He also has expertise in residential real estate, having developed the 1,200 acre Indian Springs Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming which was named by Forbes Magazines as one of the top 10 private communities in the United States. Mr. Halpin also developed 1500 acres in Warrenton, Virginia known as Bellevue Estates as well as having built, renovated, or owned several thousand apartments in the metropolitan area over the past 30 years. His family also owns two cays in the Bahamas.
In 2009, Mr. Halpin initiated construction of a net zero carbon demonstration project, the GreenHouse, in McLean, VA. The single family project illustrated the benefits of energy efficient building design and construction, renewable energy systems, and walkable locations to reduce the impact of our next generation of buildings and development. Over 10,000 people toured the project in the Fall of 2009. The GreenHouse was named the Project of the Year by the National Association of Homebuilders.
OTHER EXPERIENCE: Mr. Halpin served in a Naval Construction Battalion for four years during World War II. He then spent 15 years with Atlantic Research Company purchasing, building and/or managing manufacturing plants in New Hampshire, Boston, and Los Angeles. He also built a missile launching station in Utah and developed a propellant manufacturing facility on several thousand acres on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In 1952, he constructed a major manufacturing complex for ARC in Gainesville, Virginia, and in 1958, he developed an 85-acre office complex in Springfield, Virginia for the company. In 1960, Mr. Halpin co-founded WEST*GROUP's predecessor, Commonwealth Capital Inc., to plan and develop a 700,000 square foot shopping mall in Alexandria, Virginia known as Landmark Center, one of the first regional shopping malls in the metropolitan area. In 1976, Mr. Halpin founded and has served as Chairman of World Resources Company, a worldwide metals recycling business, which solves waste disposal problems for manufacturers and communities using cost effective technology. In 1969, he purchased property in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today known as Lost Creek Ranch, which his family operates as a guest resort bordered by Grand Teton National Park. In addition, Mr. Halpin was an owner and involved in the development of a luxury resort known as the Cottonwoods, plus two hotels, condominiums and the Borgata Shops in Scottsdale, Arizona.
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS: Mr. Halpin served for more than eight years as a member of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and its predecessors. In addition, he was appointed a member of the Governor's Advisory Board on Industrial Development and served in that capacity under Governors Holton, Godwin and Dalton. He served as a member of Governor Robb's Task force on Science and Technology and the Governor's Joint Study Committee to investigate the feasibility of establishing a Coal Slurry Pipeline in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Mr. Halpin served as Director and Chairman of the Finance Committee for the National Capital Bicentennial Celebration. He is a member of the National Park System Advisory Board and serves as a director of Kidney Kids, Inc. He is also Chairman Emeritus of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, and is a former member of the boards of Eastern National and The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. Mr. Halpin also served on the Corporate Advisory Board for the George Mason University College of Science and on the Fairfax County History Museum Steering Committee. In 2007, he was Chairman of the American Heart Association Greater Washington Region Gala, which raised a record $1.1 million for education and research. He was a Founding Director of Bell Atlantic Corporation, serving on its Executive, Finance and Human Resources Committees. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Crestar Financial Corporation and Crestar Bank (now SunTrust), serving on the Executive, Audit and Compensation Committees, and he served as a Director and Treasurer of the American Horticultural Society. He was a Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a Trustee of the Frontier Foundation, the WEST*LYNCH Foundation and the International Together Foundation, recognized by the United Nations as a non-governmental organization for global unity. In addition, he has served as a Trustee of the American Museum of Immigration, as a Trustee of the National Recreation and Park Association, as a Trustee of the Virginia Museum of Science and as a Trustee, Co-Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Wolf Trap Foundation. He also served as a Chairman of the Boarder Baby Project Gala plus the Medical Care for Children Partnership and Northern Virginia Community College Awards Dinners.
Mr. Halpin has received many industry awards for WEST*GROUP developments over the years including the Urban Land Institute Washington District Council’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award. He has received the National Association of Industrial and Office Park's President's Award of Distinction, National Honor Award, and Award of Excellence for Best New Building; the Landscape Contractor's Association Grand Award for Commercial Maintenance; and Fairfax County Government's Exceptional Design Honor Award. He was a recipient of the prestigious Ellie Doyle Service Award from the Fairfax County Park Authority, as well as the Ernst and Young Greater Washington "Entrepreneur of the Year Award”. Mr. Halpin was also chosen to receive the 2003 Life Achievement in Industry Award from the Science Museum of Virginia. In 2005, he received the James M. Rees Award from the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce for exemplary service to the Chamber and community. Additionally, he has received tributes in the Congressional Record from both the United States Senate and House of Representatives.
EDUCATION: Mr. Halpin graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and attended Georgetown University School of Law. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Syracuse University since 1978, having served on its Executive Committee. In 2002 Mr. Halpin was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Shenandoah University.
PERSONAL: Mr. Halpin is married. He enjoys hiking, fishing, and snowmobiling with his children and grandchildren at his ranches in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
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