Friday, May 15, 2009
Robert O’Farrell & Todd Wallace: Partners in mind
Austin Business Journal – by Laura Mohammad Contributing Writer
The word “integrity” keeps coming back to you when you ask about the partnership and work of Robert O’Farrell and Todd Wallace.
Retail real estate brokers for SRS Real Estate Partners, they have won over clients with honest deal-making throughout the Austin-San Antonio market. And their numbers show their formula of honesty to be a recipe for success.
In 2008, O’Farrell and Wallace teamed to bring SRS nearly 1.4 million square feet in sales and leases, with more than 1.1 million square feet in leases and 259,144 square feet in sales. They combined to close 112 deals in 2008, including 26 sales and 86 leases.
O’Farrell is vice president at SRS, and Wallace is senior vice president and market leader of the company formerly named Staubach Retail Services.
“People like Robert are few and far between. It was different 20, 30 years ago, when your word was your word. You don’t have that in today’s society. Robert is an oddity today,” said Pattie Austin, manager of real estate and development for Bridgestone Retail Operations LLC. “He does the right thing. He does what’s best for the client. Robert doesn’t take any shortcuts; he always goes the extra mile.”
Viral Patel’s admiration for the duo is simarly based.
“There are a lot of brokers out there, but they’ve got to be knowledgeable; they’ve got to have integrity,” said Patel, a real estate negotiator for JC Penney, one of O’Farrell and Wallace’s clients. Patel worked with the two for about three years until recently.
“They’re really objective. They pretty much give you the pros and cons, and that goes back to integrity,” Patel said.
“I’d like to believe that we act with integrity,” O’Farrell said. “It’s not just us. That’s the mindset of the company. They’re more impressed with attitude and demeanor than the number of deals you can put together. It’s the corporate culture.”
Wallace and O’Farrell work seamlessly together, making sure it’s not the client catching them up on a deal.
“We’re constantly talking about deals,” Wallace said.
The two talk out each deal at least twice a week. That way, no matter which broker the client talks to, there are no gaps. One of them may have a stronger relationship with a client, Wallace said, but both brokers are always up to date on any project.
Their partnership dates back nine years, when O’Farrell was an intern at The Weitzman Group and Wallace helped mentor him. When Wallace went to Staubach almost five years ago, O’Farrell followed, together seeing the company’s change to SRS this year.
“When [Staubach] approached me about opening the Austin-San Antonio office, the first person I thought of was Robert,” Wallace said. “He’s the hardest worker I know. He’s loyal. He’s very good at what he does. He has a strong knack for this business.”
About Wallace, O’Farrell said: “When I came on, he was more than willing to teach me. He has a very good rapport with clients. I would say overall, integrity is something I learned from Todd.
“I didn’t know much about Staubach. I just knew that if Todd was going, that was where I was going too,” O’Farrell said.
O’Farrell, who is 29, said he enjoys the excitement of his work. “I like the opportunity that every day brings. You always have a definite feeling that the biggest deal is around the corner.”
For 37-year-old Wallace, “I really enjoy the interaction with clients, … seeing a deal come to fruition.”
Info
Total square feet (each): 697,131
Square feet sold (each): 129,572
Square feet leased (each): 567,559
Total No. of deals (each): 56
No. of sales (each): 13
No. of leases (each): 43