Emmitt Smith is back in real estate with a new Dallas company

Former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith is taking the field with a new Dallas-based real estate business.

Smith, who has been investing in real estate since the 1990s, formed a commercial real estate company in partnership with Newmark Group, based in New York. The new company will work in commercial real estate brokerage as well as development and construction services.

“I am completely committed to the real estate business,” Smith said. “We are re-engaging in the business brokerage services space.”

The Pro Football Hall of Famer said his new company will have 50 to 100 employees and operate in multiple markets. Last summer, Smith parted ways with a 4-year-old commercial real estate group in Dallas, which he said turned out not to be a suitable fit.

Since then, he has spent months preparing for the new operation.

“We wanted to be bigger and be part of a great organization,” Smith said. “Newmark provided this opportunity.”

Newmark in New York, and its London-based partner, Knight Frank, have more than 400 independent and company-owned offices on six continents.

“This partnership allows us to team up with Emmitt, a respected and established business leader with a successful track record in identifying and executing successful commercial real estate transactions,” Barry Gosin, CEO of Newmark, said in a statement. .

The company, a subsidiary of BGC Partners, made its $ 280 million initial public offering in New York in December. Smith was on hand to ring the opening bell to begin trading.

“Our relationship with Newmark gives us an opportunity on the brokerage side,” he said.

Smith said that since retiring from football in 2004, he has focused on real estate, learning the trade from mentors in sports and real estate.

“As my football career started to soar, I started doing a lot of research and talking to legends like Roger Staubach and Magic Johnson,” he said. His construction services company has been involved in projects for Toyota at Plano, Dallas Parkland Hospital, and DFW International Airport.

“We are in the service industry, providing service to the customers we serve and earning the right to do business with them,” said Smith.