Executive Team

Kevin P. Lillis

Chief Executive Officer

Taking care of people is what Kevin Lillis does best. As CEO of Hospitality Alliance, he brings to the table 30 years of experience in the hospitality and real estate industries, developing and operating some of the most celebrated restaurants, bars, hotels and food halls in the country. Kevin and his team at Hospitality Alliance recently opened Victory Social (a 12,000 SF restaurant in the Victory Park neighborhood of Dallas), and has three restaurants (JAXON, Shoals Smokehouse, and Pistil Lounge) as well as a 25,000 SF events plaza at the Toyota Music Factory district in LAs Colinas. Previously Hospitality Alliance created and oversaw the operations of The Exchange Food Hall, JAXON Texas Kitchen & Beer Garden, and Rise & Thyme at AT&T's Discovery District headquarters campus in Downtown Dallas (for which Lillis received the ICSC Development Project of the Year Award). The team also oversaw the development of The Rock at La Cantera (the San Antonio Spurs $500M campus).

Kevin is also the creator of JAXON Cares, which has raised funds and supported Family Gateway, Genesis Women's Shelter, Wounded Warrior Project, North Texas Food Bank and CitySquare in 2020. He also recently founded the Hospitality Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an organization devoted to providing resources for victims of domestic abuse and hospitality staff training on the matter. He was awarded the 2021 HeRO (He Respects Others) of the Year Award by the Genesis Women's Shelter and Support Network for his work, and is on the Board of Directors for Genesis.

Previously Kevin was the Head of Real Estate, Food & Beverage (and only US-based executive) for Sahara, the majority owner of the iconic Plaza Hotel and Dream Downtown in Manhattan. Kevin oversaw The Todd English Food Hall, The Plaza Food Hall, Palm Court Restaurant, Champagne Bar, Rose Bar, and the retail spaces (totaling over 165,000 SF). Prior to his time at The Plaza, Lillis spent five years as the Executive Vice President of Food & Beverage and Real Estate for what was then the largest private owner of hotels in NYC (Hampshire Hotels).

Prior to his time with Hampshire, Lillis worked in real estate investment banking for nearly ten years with Rockwood and CB Richard Ellis and was responsible for closing nearly 100 real estate and financing transactions totaling over $6.5 Billion in value, including the largest real estate transactions in both Connecticut and New Jersey history.

Lillis is also the Founder and CEO of New England Sports Marketing Group. He produced the first legally sanctioned mixed martial arts (MMA) event in New York state history (May 2013) as well as the first MMA event in Madison Square Garden history (November 2014), setting the record for the largest non-boxing combat sports event in New York history. Lillis has produced sporting events for a television audience exceeding 120 million households.

Kevin is an active Board Member of Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) in Dallas, as well as YMCA of Dallas. Kevin lives with his wife Janna and their two children, Grant and Evelyn, in Southlake, Texas."