Mel Foster Co. History

Mel Foster Co. was founded in 1921, when at the age of 21, Mel Foster Sr. opened a one-man, one-room real estate operation. The company built its first house on Telegraph Road, in Davenport, Iowa in 1927. That home was the first of thousands to be built in the Quad Cities area. By 1936, there were real estate offices in Davenport, Iowa and Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, plus a full service insurance division.

Build It, and They Will Come
Mel Foster, Sr. was the consummate city planner. He peered ahead to the "federal highway" and invested accordingly. He believed that it was important to provide affordable housing and he believed that industry would locate where housing was readily available.

To that end, Mel Foster Co. successfully negotiated major industrial site purchases in the Quad Cities, including International Harvester, Caterpillar, 3-M, Cordova Nuclear Power Plant and ALCOA. At the same time, the company developed subdivisions that offered affordable homes to the families who lived and worked at these businesses.

Mel Foster, Sr. advocated for annexation, expanding the boundaries of Davenport, becoming a key contributor to the physical and economic development of the Quad Cities and surrounding areas.

Continuing the Tradition
Under the direction of Mel Foster, Jr., the company continued its tradition of leadership, including negotiations for major industrial sites such as John Deere Davenport Works, the development of prime office space, as well as major downtown and suburban developments. A pioneer in regional residential developments, the company has continued innovations with numerous large scale subdivisions. Mel Foster Co. is committed to quality in construction and development of residential housing as well as commercial and industrial.

 

Mel Foster Co. Market Share

Mel Foster Co. Ranks in the Top 100

Combined Market ShareRISMedia's 21st Annual Power Broker Report & Survey listed Mel Foster Co. as number 78 in their ranking of over 950 national real estate firms. That puts us above all area real estate companies. We are also the highest ranked real estate firm in Illinois behind Chicago area Brokers.

 Another major industry publication, REAL Trends, has ranked Mel Foster Co. as number 81 of the top 500 real estate brokerages in the country based on closed transaction sides from 2008. In this report, Mel Foster Co. was, again, the highest ranking Iowa company as well as the highest ranking company in Illinois behind Chicago area Brokers.

 REALTOR® Magazine listed Mel Foster Co. as number 74 in their ranking of the top 100 national real estate firms based on closed transactions sides in 2008. This ranking is again the highest of all area real estate companies and also the highest in Illinois behind Chicago area Brokers.

 Mel Foster Co. closed 4,388 listings and/or sales during 2008, over 12 deals per day. Mel Foster Co. agents closed an average of 13 transactions per agent in 2008 compared to a national average of seven.