Tom Clayton

Founder and Director at Touchdown Realty Group

Speaker

Tom Clayton, a former NFL running back from 2007-2013, transitioned into real estate development immediately after retiring from the NFL, forming Touchdown Realty Group LLC (‘TRG’) with his business partner and wife Kelly Clayton. Since 2014, Tom has successfully closed hundreds of real estate transactions while developing and holding over 250 luxury single-family and A-class multifamily rental units valued at over $125MM, and maintains 100% ownership of his real estate portfolio that sits at ~50% LTV. Additionally, Tom is developing over 300 townhome and apartment units across five projects throughout Rhode Island, with deliveries scheduled from 2026 through 2028.

Licensed as both a realtor and contractor, with a passion for asset management, and interior/exterior design, Tom is also well-versed in the entitlement process, all phases of construction, underwriting & budgeting, buying & selling, and short & long-term leasing of residential property.

With over a decade of experience as a heavy-lift redeveloper, Tom has a substantial background in historic restorations (winning multiple Restoration of the Year awards), and is revered as an expert in adaptive reuse conversions (having converted several vacant nursing homes, schools, churches, and hotels into multifamily rental units). Tom's newest point of interest is new construction ‘Build-to-Rent’ development.

Completing NFL Business Management & Entrepreneurial Programs at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management, and Stanford University - Graduate School of Business, Tom also became Commercial Real Estate certified through Cornell University - ‘Commercial Development & Property Management Program.’

TRG is vertically integrated, with acquisitions/sales, development/construction, design, leasing, and asset management all sourced internally.

As development director, Tom’s core strengths merge vision with technical execution. These strengths include strategic deal sourcing, contract negotiations, capital relationship management, and construction oversight, owning TRG Construction LLC, with over 100 dedicated carpenters and tradesmen as manpower.