NFL alum Kwame Ellis is a northern California native. He was born in Berkeley and attended Skyline High School in Oakland. He then was fortunate enough to be recruited and play for Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto.
Ellis signed as a rookie free agent with the Jets in 1996 but things did not turn out as anticipated for either him or the team. The Jets finished with their worst record (1-15) in franchise history that year and Ellis only played in eight games.
He also played some NFL Europe ball and was on the Vikings off-season roster, but his football days were basically behind him.
Like many of us, Ellis was not sure of his post-NFL career. However, he eventually hooked up with former high school teammate Khalid Shabazz and they decided to get involved with real estate.
Ellis and Shabazz recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Titan and Associates real estate developing firm. The company is named after their high school mascot and is dedicated to creating affordable housing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“We started investing in real estate,” Ellis explains. “and that meant buying, holding, fixing, and flipping land and houses. As we got more advanced, skilled, and trained, we founded Titan and Associates.”
Titan has two divisions. One is a development arm that focuses on building from the ground up and the second is a construction wing that specializes in renovating existing homes for several Texas municipalities. The Titan team so far has completed projects totaling more than $25 million.
“We realized there was a much broader need outside just the private real estate side,” says the 50-year old Ellis. “That is what pushed us to see how we could partner with municipalities to put more quality homes into what’s now known as ‘affordable housing’.”
Elllis’ goal is to get larger parcels of land and develop affordable communities, not just individual structures in different parts of cities. Ellis believes that he and his firm have the track record to help Dallas address the problem of cost-of-living expenses rising faster than family incomes in certain neighborhoods of the city.
“We’re grateful that we’re able to do well for ourselves and grow our efforts in the community at the same time,” Ellis says.
We at NFL Alumni congratulate Kwame Ellis and his company for the work they are doing to address housing needs in his adopted hometown of Dallas. The former high school teammates are making a living while at the same time helping those not as fortunate as they are.
