As the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic continues, the Forest District needs our support more than ever.
Click here to find out how you can support our Dallas Catalyst Project partners.
Dallas Catalyst Project
In early 2017, The Real Estate Council Foundation introduced a new fundraising model called the Dallas Catalyst Project to focus its philanthropic resources toward a specific Dallas neighborhood. TREC Foundation has partnered with Cornerstone Baptist Church, St. Philip’s School & Community Center and CitySquare to achieve the community’s vision for revitalization. The inaugural Dallas Catalyst Project includes an initial three-year, $1 million TREC Foundation investment as well as professional services from our members and their companies to help renovate 12,000-plus square feet of retail space along Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, restore the Forest Theater’s façade and construct a communal canopy space beneath the I-45 bridge. Together, we will ensure the Forest District reaches its full potential.
If you would like to get involved with the Dallas Catalyst Project, please email TREC Foundation Coordinator Kennedy Bower.
Partner Organizations
Cornerstone Baptist Church
Initial work to the church includes the beautification of its exterior, the implementation of landscaping, improvements to the building’s façade and signage, as well as the installation of a playscape beneath I-45.
Project Manager: Emily Henry, Studio Outside
St. Philip’s School and Community Center
Renovation of 12,000 square feet of retail space at 1632-1644 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, which includes architectural and construction plans, permitting, advisory services on potential tenants and an improved streetscape.
Project Manager: David Fazio, The Retail Connection
CitySquare – Forest Theater
TREC will work with CitySquare on restoring the Forest Theater’s façade, which includes architectural/master planning, construction to the theater’s exterior and marquee and improved lighting.
Project Manager: Zack Lamp, HKS
Additional Projects
Associate Leadership Council Project
TREC’s prestigious leadership development program is an annual, cohort-based program that empowers its emerging professionals to self-select robust projects presented by Dallas Catalyst Project partner organizations. Each year, the ALC class selects a renovation project within the community that creates approximately $200,000 in value to the organization they choose to support.
Young Guns Foundation Project
TREC’s 1,000-member young professionals group will evaluate real estate project opportunities each year to serve our DCP partners. The 2020 project, led by Tara Harandi of GFF and Patrick Henning of Brasfield & Gorrie, is to construct the We Creation Innovation Center in partnership with St. Philip’s School and Community Center. The facility will help St. Philip’s students, Forest District residents, and community organizations solve their most complex challenges through collaboration, project-based learning, and human-centric design.
Young Guns Community Engagement Committee
The Volunteer & Community Engagement Committee plans volunteer workdays that support TREC’s overall Dallas Catalyst Project goals and commitment. Previous volunteer days include work at CitySquare’s food pantry, renovating houses owned by Cornerstone Baptist Church and installing aquaponics gardens at St. Philip’s School & Community Center.
TREC Wire
Jun. 08, 2020
Bike Friendly South Dallas & the We-Cycle Resource Center: One year Later
Read MoreCommunity Driven Growth
In October 2018, The Real Estate Council Community Fund was awarded a $400,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Partnerships for Raising Opportunity (PRO) in Neighborhoods initiative to help design a pilot program for igniting equitable development in three Dallas neighborhoods considered most vulnerable to rapid transition: the Forest District in Southern Dallas/Fair Park, “The Bottom” in East Oak Cliff, and West Dallas-Census Tract 205.
The initiative resulted in a $6 million PRO Neighborhoods investment to create the Dallas Collaborative for Equitable Development and implement the strategies outlined in Community Driven Growth.
Dallas Catalyst Project Team
Special Thanks to Our Funders
