The Dallas Economic Development Corporation has secured a $1.5 million grant from the Communities Foundation of Texas, the organization announced Monday.
The funds given to the quasi-independent nonprofit, which was established by the city nearly four years ago, extend through May 2028, and are intended to broadly support the EDC’s core mission.
Those objectives include revitalizing city-owned properties, and various marketing efforts.
In a statement, Linda McMahon, the group’s president and CEO, called the grant a “transformative investment” that strengthens the nonprofit and “validates the importance of our mission.”
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“We look forward to rallying additional investors to amplify the impact of this gift across our city,” she added.
Wayne White, president and CEO of the Communities Foundation of Texas, called the grant “a strategic investment in Dallas’s economic future.”
The Communities Foundation of Texas, which was founded in Dallas in 1953, now ranks as one of the state’s largest philanthropic groups. It awards thousands of grants annually to area nonprofits, and distributed $158 million in fiscal year 2024.
The EDC grant will come through various “unrestricted and field of interest charitable endowment legacy funds” that are managed by the foundation, according to a Dallas EDC representative.
From left: the Mercantile Building, which is terminating all of its leases due to a leak and noxious odor; the Comerica tower, whose namesake tenants are eyeing an Uptown move; and 1700 Pacific, which is a shell of its former self
Robert Wilonsky
In 2022, the Dallas City Council greenlit a plan to use $7 million in federal pandemic relief money to create a new nonprofit ― the EDC ― focused on helping drive the city’s economic growth, particularly in southern Dallas and other struggling areas.
The new funding comes as the specter of a more uncertain future looms over downtown, one area of focus for the nonprofit.
In recent weeks, questions have swirled about potential moves out of the area that involve AT&T, Comerica, Neiman Marcus, the Stars and the Mavericks — all key economic pillars for downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.
The Mercantile Building, another downtown staple, is also undergoing major renovations and is currently uninhabitable after recently suffering extensive flood damage.