TREC’s 2024 Year-in-Review

Since its inception, TREC Community Investors has sought to invest in the disinvested, energize neighborhoods, and change lives throughout Dallas. Employing a place-based strategy that transforms a neighborhood block by block, TREC CI provides a combination of loans, equity-equivalent investments, and expert TREC-member technical assistance in partnership with neighborhood leaders and community organizations. From its earliest investments to the La Calle Diez Community Development Corporation, Short North Dallas Community, and The Dallas Plan, to committing $1.5 million to the development of Klyde Warren Park, to the ongoing Dallas Catalyst Project, TREC Community Investors remains committed to making a lasting impact in the communities we serve.

Dominique joined TREC Community Investors this fall having most recently served as principal with a Tennessee-based consulting firm specializing in creative capital strategy, affordable housing, and community engagement for real estate developers, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations. She was also the executive director of the Tennessee Affordable Housing Coalition and director of strategic partnerships and engagement at The Housing Fund, where she helped establish Nashville’s first Community Land Trust (CLT). In other words, she was the perfect person to lead TREC Community Investors! She draws on more than 20 years of experience in education, public relations, and real estate to strengthen TREC Community Investors’ commitment to equitable development and neighborhood revitalization throughout North Texas.

The first black woman to be named CEO of an NBA franchise sat down with us at Speaker Series in October for an in-depth discussion about her life and career. Cynt Marshall shared stories about the events and figures who had the greatest impact on how she approached her 36-year tenure with AT&T, which included several leadership roles, and now heads the Dallas Mavericks. Having cultivated a reputation as a dynamic force in the business world with the ability to get things done, Marshall will retire as Mavs CEO at the end of the year but will stay with the team as a consultant through 2025.

The newest iteration of the Dallas Catalyst Project started with two projects that, once completed, could quickly begin serving the Mill City community. For their annual community investment projects, TREC’s 2024 Associate Leadership Council (ALC) class is developing a new headquarters for Zan Wesley Holmes Jr. Community Outreach Center from a former church building, while its Young Guns are renovating the Spring Plaza site that houses South Dallas/Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation and three retail tenants.

Each of the 21 candidates TREC Political Action Committee (PAC) endorsed this fall – which included 19 incumbents and two newcomers – was elected to the Texas Legislature and will represent North Texas and our industry when the next legislative session begins in January. TREC PAC met with each of the candidates in the weeks leading up to the election, evaluating incumbents on their voting history and newcomers on their public positions. We are confident that these leaders share our commitment to creating a livable, economically thriving North Texas and look forward to working with them throughout their terms in office.

Thirty years ago, we made one of our very first community investments in St. Philip’s School and Community Center, which marked the start of one of our longest-running partnerships in Dallas. In August, St. Philip’s became our largest loan recipient in organization history, with $1.1 million to help fund the new Trinity Housing Initiative to construct seven affordable, single-family homes in the Forest District. St. Philip’s has been a very special community partner to us, from that initial investment to Dallas Catalyst Project: Forest District to today. This loan ensures that the relationship will continue, for the benefit of our South Dallas neighbors.

Earlier this year, we introduced a new offering to our programs lineup exclusively for Investor-level members to get a deeper look at a specific segment of the commercial real estate industry. We hosted seven ‘Industry Insights’ events in 2024 featuring expert guest speakers and sponsor support from GlobalPro on topics ranging from DFW’s growing life sciences sector to plans for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, and more. The program is set to return in 2025. Topics and registration information will be announced after the start of the new year.

As we prepared to introduce the Dallas Catalyst Project to Mill City, we celebrated the previous six years of investments in the Forest District with partner organizations St. Philip’s School and Community Center, Cornerstone Baptist Church, and Forest Forward. On Saturday, January 27, the community came together to look back at the impact the partnership made within the Forest District: 22 completed projects, 120,983 square feet of redeveloped space, $3 million+ invested by TREC Community Investors, and additional $144 million of outside investment. We also cut the ribbon on two of our final Dallas Catalyst Project: Forest District projects – the 2023 ALC class’s renovation of the Royal Oak Apartments and the Young Guns’ construction of The Hub on MLK, which serves as a community engagement center, pop-up space, and respite site for Dallas police officers.

Each graduating ALC class considers itself the BCE, or Best Class Ever. While they are all correct in that assessment, this year Leadership Alumni decided to crown an actual Best Class Ever with the inaugural Clash of the Classes trivia night on Thursday, May 30. Open to teams of ALC and Executive Leadership Program (ELP) alums, Clash of the Classes challenged participants on their knowledge of Dallas history, commercial real estate history, and TREC history. The evening was a rousing success, so much so that Clash of the Classes is returning on Thursday, January 30, to (potentially) crown a new BCE.