TREC CI and community partners launch commercial kitchen in the Forest District

A new commercial kitchen aimed at supporting food-related start-ups launch and scaling their businesses opened today in the Forest District.  

Located at 2839 S. Ervay St. in the Crossing, the South Dallas Cloud Kitchen will offer local entrepreneurs access to resources and lower short- and long-term rental fees. The commercial kitchen can accommodate multiple businesses per day, and tenants will need to get a safety and food handler certification before securing their space.

Forest District residents will manage the cloud kitchen.  

The South Dallas Cloud Kitchen is a collaboration between The Real Estate Council’s Associate Leadership Council class of 2021, TREC Community Investors, Cornerstone Baptist Church and the city of Dallas. The commercial kitchen is part of the Dallas Catalyst Project, a place-based strategy launched in 2017.  

Through the multi-year initiative, TREC CI partnered with community partners including Forest Forward, St. Philips School and Community Center and Cornerstone Baptist Church on community projects aimed at revitalizing the Forest District including the Cornerstone Community Laundromat and Southpoint Community Market, both also located at the Crossing.  

The organization invested more than $3 million in the neighborhood and over $1 million in additional in-kind and pro bono contributions 

 “Over the past six years, the DCP has allowed us to purposefully work with our partners to invest in and revitalize the Forest District block by block to develop valuable community resources and pave the way for long-term neighborhood success,” TREC senior director of community investment Felicia Pierson said in a statement. “The work of the ALC Class of 2021 and Cornerstone Baptist Church on the South Dallas Cloud Kitchen is an excellent example how working together in partnership not only creates new businesses and job opportunities but also an increased sense of pride in the community.” 

TREC’s ALC class selects a project to focus on each year, and most recently, the class of 2022 chose to restore the Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Museum and Learning Center. 

The renovation project received an initial $70,000 grant from TREC CI, and the class secured over $220,000 and more than 350 hours in in-kind donations and pro bono services to restore the museum in about a year.  

“We do not go in and tell any organization in the community what they should do,” Pierson previously said. “It's always the organization that has the vision, and we ensure we can provide those resources to facilitate that vision come into life. The class is made up of people that have construction background. There are people that are working in title, just various aspects of real estate. They bring all those resources together to pull these projects together to ensure that they are completed.”