We caught
famed Dallas Cowboys running back
Emmitt Smith in Atlanta this week, regaling a crowd of real estate pros at a cocktail function. Turns out Emmitt and his colleagues are on
a talent search(not for
Dancing With The Stars) for his
new full-service brokerage firm, E Smith Realty Partners. Emmitt says he's
looking to open an Atlanta office.
Emmitt credits another Hall of Famer,
Roger Staubach, for getting into the biz. Roger helped originally fund the development company Smith/Cypress. Now Emmitt is taking
another dose of inspiration from Roger and creating a
nationwide brokerage firm. "What Staubach did was absolutely amazing. I just asked the
fundamental questions: Can I do the same thing, and can I do it better?" Emmitt says. "
That was the reason I got into the business." (Friendly competition among former Cowboys.)
E Smith Realty prez
Brant Landry (here with his wife
Jenny) says the firm is looking to compete with the likes of JLL and Transwestern. He adds that there's
no specific time frame to open an Atlanta office, but he's vetting candidates. Brant says the firm also is looking to expand in DC, NY, and other major commercial real estate markets. "We both started in 2008, and you can say that was a
crazy time," he says. "But this is a
long-term game plan."
