From the Gridiron to the Boardroom In his football career, Jeff Bostic was a member of one of the best and most famed group of offensive linemen in National Football League (NFL) history. Known as “The Hogs,” Jeff and his Washington line mates paved the way for the Redskins to win three Super Bowl titles. But when the time came for him to hang up the cleats, in 1993, he had an opportunity waiting for him – a multifamily business with his brother Joe, also a NFL offensive lineman, in their hometown of Greensboro, N.C.
After Joe retired from his 11-year football career in 1989, he took the contractor’s exam. The brothers wanted to build and own multifamily properties. “We got into this business because of our parents,” Jeff says. “My dad used to buy houses, fix them up, and rent them. He was the person that really directed us in that area.” However, to be successful on this new playing field, the brothers needed a voice of experience.
In 1991, a mutual acquaintance introduced the Bostic brothers to Mel Morris, an independent contractor at the time. The brothers hired Morris, now president of Bostic Construction Inc., on a fee basis to build their first 11-building apartment complex in Greensboro. The company budgeted $875,000 per building for that job, and Morris ended up finishing the job for about $480,000 per building. The brothers made about $6 million on the apartment after selling it.
By 1997, the brothers and Morris had built three apartments and were on pace to follow their plan of building one or two apartment communities per year. Then something unexpected happened. People, including the brother’s football acquaintances, began coming to the company wanting to make deals. “After we finished our first couple of jobs, everybody was asking if we would build for them,” Jeff says.
Although Bostic Construction was taking off, Jeff found that he was not that involved in the company because he was living in Washington and focusing on television commitments. He sold his partnership to Morris in 1999, which gave Joe and Morris each 50 percent ownership. In 2001, Jeff decided to come back into the business, buying 20 percent of the company from the partners.
Jeff’s reappearance provided the rapidly growing company with even more momentum. He took a sales role with the company, closing six deals in the Atlanta area. “Jeff is a great salesman and a strong spokesman,” Morris says. “He enjoys selling our company to banks and equity investors.”
And the banks and equity investors enjoy working with Jeff. “We will go in for a visit and talk with the banks for about two minutes about the deal,” Morris says. “For the next 25 minutes, people want to know more about the Super Bowls than 148 apartment units.”
With Jeff as the deal maker, Morris continued growing the construction operation. However, Joe was not comfortable with this growth. “Joe enjoys doing one or two deals,” Morris says. “He liked the way it was in the early 1990s.” Earlier this year, Joe retired from the company selling his 40 percent to Morris and Jeff. Morris now owns 67 percent of Bostic Construction, while Jeff owns 33 percent.
Despite owning the bulk of the company, Morris has no desire to change the name. He says the brothers’ reputation is too valuable. “Their reputation of being honest and doing what they said was a big help,” Morris says. “Its certainly easier to brand a name that’s already known. We get a lot of mileage out of the Bostic name.”
