CitySquare has bought the historic Forest Theater and the adjacent retail shopping strip and plans to restore the long-vacant theater into a performance and teaching space.
The project will become part of a larger community center for surrounding neighborhoods off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dallas.
CitySquare is a nonprofit that serves impoverished residents and fosters community development in Dallas.
The 14,565-square-foot theater was built in 1949. It features a signature neon-clad tower.
“They have a real passion for the arts and a real passion for how art can intersect poverty …”
Larry James
David Zoller of Weitzman represented CitySqaure in the deal, He told the Dallas Business Journal that the South Dallas community was lucky to have the theater under the control of a dedicated community group that can create a facility that makes a difference in people’s lives.
According to the Business Journal, the 31,114-square-foot retail property takes up an entire city block between Interstate 45 and U.S. 175, roughly three miles from downtown Dallas.
Forest Theater has had many lives in its 68 years, The Dallas Morning News reported. It has been a movie theater, a temporary synagogue, a concert hall, and a blues club.
Until 2008, it was a community arts center operated by singer Erykah Badu, who is from the neigborhood.
CitySquare CEO Larry James told the Morning News that the organization was able to buy the landmark only through the help of board member and health-care execuctive Jon Halbert and his wife, Linda. They run a foundation and were able cover the asking price in cash.
“They have a real passion for the arts and a real passion for how art can intersect poverty in a way that gets at challenging some of the causes and not just working on the effects,” James told the newspaper.
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R E A D N E X T
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The summit is an innovation multiplier for capital, collaboration, and commercialization. Plus, you can meet 2021 NTX Rising Stars—and the new companies moving to BioLabs at Pegasus Park. Here's an updated agenda for the annual iC3 Life Science Summit on September 30 and October 1.
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Deadline for nominations is Friday, September 17. The 2021 award, sponsored by BioLabs at Pegasus Park, will be presented on September 30 at the iC3 Life Science Summit. The impact that Dr. Dennis K. Stone left on the DFW biotech industry is, without doubt, immeasurable, says BioNTX. Past recipients of the award that honors his memory are Phil Ralston, Lyda Hill, Darlene Boudreaux, Paul Dorman, and Hubert Zajicek.
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It was only last January that Trive Capital—a Dallas-based PE firm—formed Karman in a partnership with AMRO Fabricating and Aerospace Engineering. The Systima acquisition is the fifth transaction Trive has completed in the last 12 months in building the Karman platform into an aerospace and hypersonic powerhouse.
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Rare is not that rare, says the RDCC. One in ten people lives with a rare disease, and the new coalition will unify life science companies dedicated to developing treatments. The goal? To inform policymakers of the unique challenges in the space. Signature Biologics joins Dallas-based Taysha as a member of the RDCC.
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The eighth annual IC3 Summit will be a forum for leaders from startups to large multinationals in the biotech, pharma, healthcare, and academic communities. A key summit speaker will be Admiral Brett Giroir, M.D., the former White House COVID-19 "testing czar."
