Emmitt Smith hands off capital markets division to new Austin team

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E Smith Capital Partners

NFL great Emmitt Smith is flanked by Greg Seitz, left, and Marc Rankin who will head up E Smith Capital Partners, a new capital markets division of E Smith Realty Partners.

Jan Buchholz

Staff Writer- Austin Business Journal

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NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is upping his game in the real estate field with the creation of E Smith Capital Partners, a new capital markets division that will be headquartered in Austin.

When Smith was in Austin last spring for an inaugural golf tournament he sponsored, Smith said he had ambitious plans for the Austin market and it appears he has taken that first step by hiring Greg Seitz as senior managing director and Marc Rankin as managing director of E Smith Capital Partners, a new division of E Smith Realty Partners.

While E Smith Realty Partners is based in Dallas, where Smith built his storied football career with the Dallas Cowboys, he decided to base the capital markets division in Central Texas.

"Austin is a great home for the leadership team to be able to cover all of Texas and beyond," said Sharon Morrison, the CEO of E Smith Realty Partners. "It will also work well as we add other service lines in Austin. We want a presence in all major cities in our region and Austin is a big part of that."

Seitz and Rankin are graduates of the University of Texas in Austin and have extensive experience in real estate finance, matching up investors and developers with the best debt and equity sources.

Seitz is a former senior managing director with HFF LP in the Atlanta office and most recently was managing partner of Market Maker Realty and Investments in Austin. He has faciliated financing for an estimated $1.6 billion in income-producing properties.

Rankin founded Market Maker Realty and Investments in 2009 and has arranged financing for more than $600 million in assets and has partnered in the past with entities owned by billionaire San Antonio entrepreneur Red McCombs.

E Smith Capital Partners has offices at 600 Congress Ave.

Jan Buchholz covers commercial and residential real estate, construction and architecture and retail and restaurants for the Austin Business Journal.