North Texas joined the Rise of the Rest community this May when the traveling entrepreneurship tour from Steve Case’s Revolution fund rolled through Dallas, and this week that community has gained new support for real estate investments that could help spur growth.

On Thursday, Case announced a new Rise of the Rest initiative around investing in real estate projects within cities, which are often overlooked. It will be led by newly added partners Starling Cousley and Clint Myers.

Cousley and Myers come to the organization from Hines, a Houston-based real estate investor and developer with several Dallas offices. Cousley will serve as a managing director and fund manager while Myers will take on the roles of senior managing director and chief strategy officer.

” … it will marry the opportunity for real estate investment with their knowledge and expertise on how to help provide great community and ecosystem resources …”

Trey Bowles

“Our existing Rise of the Rest initiative has been focused on investing in entrepreneurs leveraging technology to disrupt major sectors like health care, education, and financial services outside of Silicon Valley,” said Steve Case, Revolution chairman and CEO, in a statement. “As we’ve traveled the country on our Rise of the Rest bus tours, we’ve seen the need for great real estate projects in emerging ecosystems where these entrepreneurs and their teams can work and live.”

The ROTR real estate initiative will center on direct property investments in emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems through working with regional partners, It also will look into investments in designated “Opportunity Zones.” These areas are tied to special incentives for investment and were created last year by legislation supported by Case.

“As a result of the recent governmental tax relief for Opportunity Zones, many investors are seeing a way to support areas in need with positive tax benefits for their portfolio,” Trey Bowles, co-founder and executive chairman of The Dallas Entrepreneur Center, told Dallas Innovates. “[Thursday’s] announcement by Steve Case and the Rise of the Rest team is a great thing for low income communities because it will marry the opportunity for real estate investment with their knowledge and expertise on how to help provide great community and ecosystem resources to make these investments an asset to these communities.”

“We strongly believe the next wave of entrepreneurial growth will be driven by cities that provide both a desirable quality of life and affordable cost of living.”

Starling Cousley

Bowles said he believes the entrepreneurial ecosystem is going to see “more and more” action by investors and funds to create opportunities for entrepreneurs in communities that are currently under-resourced.

Real estate allows markets to thrive and creates a better environment for startups and entrepreneurs said Myers adding the new ROTR real estate initiative seeks to be a leader in “in helping to develop these ecosystems from the perspective of the built environment.”

“We strongly believe the next wave of entrepreneurial growth will be driven by cities that provide both a desirable quality of life and affordable cost of living,” said Cousley. He explained the ROTR real estate initiative will pursue a differentiated real estate strategy focused on markets that are often overlooked by traditional institutional investors.