Leonte Benton, who as an intern inspired T. Dallas Smith to launch a brokerage firm more than 15 years ago, has been appointed president.
Benton joined T. Dallas Smith & Co., or TDS&Co., at its inception. The eponymous Smith, who founded the firm in 2006, remains CEO and has expanded his role to encompass the development of new real estate opportunities for the company.
In his new role, Benton oversees brokerage operations at Atlanta-based TDS&Co., which says it is the largest Black-owned commercial real estate brokerage firm in the country focused exclusively on representing tenants and buyers. It has 14 brokers.
Well known in Atlanta brokerage circles, Benton gained national attention over the past couple of years because of his work for large companies including Coca-Cola, Airbnb, FedEx and JPMorgan Chase.
In 2020, he was part of the TDS&Co. team that represented Microsoft in its 523,511-square-foot lease at Atlantic Yards in midtown Atlanta. The Microsoft transaction ranked as the second-largest office deal to be completed during the pandemic last year, according to CoStar data.
Benton credited Smith with helping him break into and succeed in commercial real estate, and he plans to assist others in doing the same as president. An Atlanta native, Benton served as an intern for Smith while working on his college degree at Morehouse College.
“I know what it’s like to have a dream and a desire to participate in my future because I was once that kid who benefited from having great mentors to pave the way for me,” Benton said in a statement. “Every day, it’s going to be my priority to move this firm forward and to bring more young people into this business that makes more millionaires than many of the major league sports combined.”
In 2020, TDS&Co. broke a barrier of its own when it named Audra Cunningham as the first woman to join the firm's C-suite.
Smith said Benton's ascension to president exhibits TDS&Co.'s commitment to helping diversify the commercial real estate industry. Benton, 38, brings a fresh perspective to the industry, Smith said.
“This promotion was always a part of my mission to expose more young African Americans to commercial real estate,” Smith said in a statement. Benton is "uniquely equipped to change the face of commercial real estate and move this firm from a multi-million dollar to billion-dollar brokerage.”