Wallace joins Houlihan & O'Malley's commercial sales group

According to Dan Houlihan, president of Houlihan & O'Malley Real Estate Services, licensed real estate professional Jason Wallace, a 30-year foodservice veteran and past chairman of the board of the New York State Restaurant Association, joined the firm's commercial sales group. Wallace knows the Harlem restaurant and commercial real estate market well. And since Houlihan & O'Malley has roots that go back 35 years in commercial sales, leasing, and appraisals in Harlem, the Bronx, and southern Westchester, it's a terrific match. "This is the perfect marriage of our firm's expertise and Jason Wallace's in-depth knowledge of the area's restaurant business. He really has his ear to the ground and is aware of everything that's going on in the Harlem restaurant world," says Houlihan. "Jason has a proven track-record in successfully advising restaurants in all phases of development, and his new position will officially take him to the next step − restaurant sales and leasing." Prior to joining Houlihan & O'Malley, Wallace was the CEO and President of Hospitality Concepts Restaurant Consulting, where he worked with top architectural and interior design firms on more than 20 restaurant construction projects. A United States Navy veteran and distinguished alumni of the Culinary Institute of America, Wallace started his foodservice career as a sous chef apprentice in La Rochelle, France, and then moved on to cooking at high profile New York City restaurants. He served as General Manager of Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem, and Executive Chef of Park One-Eleven Bistro in Ridgewood, NJ. A resident of Newark, NJ, Wallace has also served as adjunct professor at the New York Restaurant School/Art Institute of New York City, Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, NJ, and Westchester Community College. He holds an honorary doctorate from the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers. "Joining Houlihan & O'Malley made perfect sense because of their extensive and long-term involvement in Harlem commercial real estate, plus their high-level of support services and dedication to customer service," says Wallace. "Combined with my background in the restaurant business, and my ability to help clients reduce risk and increase return on investment, it's a winning team!" The Commercial Sales Group of Houlihan O'Malley is run by Dan Houlihan and his brother Gerry Houlihan. The brothers trace their involvement in Harlem real estate back to the turn of the last century, when their great grandparents, Daniel and Margaret Houlihan, emigrated from Ireland. The couple ran a Harlem boarding house, and then began buying and selling building lots in Manhattan and the Bronx. Continuing the family tradition in real estate, Dan founded Houlihan & O'Malley in 1984. Dan has been involved in the now flourishing Harlem real estate scene since the late 1970s, when the area was in total turmoil, and, as he says, "the city was on fire." A former Certified Public Accountant, Dan has been continuously active in the ownership, sale, leasing, management and valuation of real estate. Gerry Houlihan owned two restaurants in Eastchester and Tuckahoe before joining the family business in 2002. Involved in over 100 restaurant deals during the last 13 years, Gerry specializes in the sale of restaurants, bars, and food related businesses. He is past president of the Westchester and Rockland Chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, and also served on the New York State Restaurant Association State Board (which is where he met Wallace). The two brothers also work with their sister Liz Genovese, MAI (member of the Appraisal Institute), who oversees Houlihan & O'Malley's Commercial Appraisal Group. (There are nine siblings altogether, and brother Joe Houlihan runs the firm's Residential Sales Group.) Genovese joined the firm in 1986. She has appraised numerous development projects in Harlem, including deals with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s HomeWorks program to redevelop and sell vacant brownstones. Genovese says, “Harlem has evolved from an area suffering from urban decay in the 1970s and 1980s, through several waves of development, to its current renaissance. The end result is a dramatic rise in real estate values.”