Proposals for commercial real estate projects from Dallas residents and area organizations are being sought by The Real Estate Council Community Fund as part of its second Shark Tank: GrowSouth event.

The event is scheduled for the fall.

Interested individuals and teams must complete and return a letter of intent to TREC by March 15 to be eligible to participate.

TREC said it encourages all applicants to attend an information session and Community Fund bootcamp sessions before submitting their final applications by April 30. Project teams selected from the initial submissions will be paired with commercial real estate professionals in early May to refine their proposals.

GROWSOUTH IS A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO BOLSTER SOUTH DALLAS

Finalists selected to pitch to a panel of commercial real estate investors during TREC Shark Tank’s live event on Sept. 27 will be notified by July 12, TREC said in the release.

Founded in 2012, GrowSouth is Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ comprehensive strategy to create a sustainable foundation for sustained growth in the southern portion of the city of Dallas.

The 2017 TREC Shark Tank event, which highlighted economic development opportunities in southern Dallas, featured an opening keynote conversation between Rawlings and Dallas Mavericks owner and ABC Shark Tank series staple Mark Cuban.

“I’ve always said southern Dallas is an investment opportunity not a charity case,” Rawlings said during the event.

Demond Fernandez of WFAA, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, and Mark Cuban participated in a discussion about the economic and investment opportunities in south Dallas during the 2017 TREC Shark Tank event. [Photo: James Edward]

Each of the three finalist teams in 2017 received project funding from prominent Dallas real estate investor sharks. Here’s a breakdown of their projects, according to TREC:

Rodney Burchfield and Burchfield & Partners Inc. received a $1.35 million deal from sharks Tillie Galan Borchers (GrowSouth Fund), Bill Cawley, Michael W. Dardick, Craig Hall, and Frank Mihalopoulos to build a 70,000-square-foot corporate maintenance, repair, and overhaul hangar at Dallas Executive Airport. The company anticipates the facility will create 30-60 full-time jobs.
The Dallas Unity Fund, led by Maria Schneider, Doric Earle, and Hugh Resnick, received $250,000 from the GrowSouth Fund represented by Borchers to help develop and sell single-family infill houses priced for quality workforce housing.
Michelle Morgan and her group Vector Studies LLC received $500,000 from the sharks to revitalize the former Forrest Avenue Community Hospital on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard into a multipurpose medical facility featuring a dialysis center, imaging center, urgent care center, and medical and dental assistant schools.

Here’s the competition timeline for the 2018 Shark Tank event:

Feb. 22: Call for project proposals opened
March 6: Information session
March 15: Letter of Intent due
April–May: Real Estate 101 Bootcamps (required)
April 30: Final proposal due
May 4: Semifinalists selected and paired with member mentor teams
May to June: Commercial real estate advisers provide support and semifinalists refine investment proposals
June 29: Semifinalists pitch to Selection Committee to select Finalists
Sept. 4: Finalist pitch presentations due to TREC Community Fund
Sept. 27: Live TREC Shark Tank event at Gilley’s Dallas