Graham Grady is a partner in the land use development and real estate practice groups at Taft where he represents developers, property owners and businesses on a broad range of land use development, economic incentive, and government relations matters in Chicago, Cook County and throughout the Midwest region of the US. He represents clients in the development of all development types including data centers, hospitals and healthcare facilities, hotels and hospitality facilities, as well as in traditional and adaptive reuse projects for office, commercial, residential, industrial and numerous specialty areas. He advises clients on matters of corporate governance including ESG, DEI, corporate best practices, and regulatory compliance. He is a member of the Executive Committee of his law firm. Grady received the highest designation by Chambers for land use and real estate law. Grady served in the cabinet of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley as Commissioner of Buildings, Zoning Administrator, ex-officio member of the Chicago Plan Commission, and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Housing Authority. Grady is a member of the Urban Land Institute and Lambda Alpha International, Ely Chapter and is a member of the faculty of the ALI-ABA Land Use Institute. He has been a guest lecturer on real estate development entitlement processes at DePaul University Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, Illinois Institute of Technology, National Louis University School of Professional Studies and Advancement, Northwestern University School of Law and Masters in Real Estate program, Roosevelt University Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate, and University of Illinois at Chicago Masters in Urban Planning program.
In addition to his law practice, Grady is a director of the Pepper Companies (Pepper Construction Co.) and serves on the University of Illinois Research Park Board of Managers. He is a member of World Business Chicago, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Economic Club of Chicago. He is a Regent of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. He is a director, vice chair and treasurer of the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation of Chicago. He serves on the boards of several charitable and civic organizations including WTTW/WFMT public broadcasting, the Smithsonian Institute National Postal Museum Advisory Board, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, the Civic Consulting Alliance, and the Shriver National Poverty Law Center. He is the founder of Chicago African-Americans in Commercial Real Estate and a co-founder of the Chicago Emerging Minority Developer Initiative. He is an emeritus member of the African-American Legacy of the Chicago Community Trust, and Landmarks Illinois. He is a founding member of the Metropolitan Board of the Chicago Urban League in 1983.
For his dedicated professional and civic service, Grady has been recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business and Ebony Magazine. He serves as a mentor in three Chicagoland programs: the Chicago Urban League IMPACT Fellows, Innovation Chicago, and the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation real estate program. Private Company Directors magazine recognized Grady as a “Director to Watch.”
A native of Chicago’s West Chesterfield community, Grady earned his law degree from Northwestern University with honors and his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was elected as the student member to the Board of Trustees. He resides in downtown Chicago where he enjoys the sunrise each morning over Lake Michigan. He is the father of adult twin daughters who also reside in Chicago. He enjoys biking, movies, and reading about current events, government and politics, and the world beyond his immediate horizons.