Linda Owen ofReal Estate Council

GlobeSt.com: What's the organization's mission?

Owen: The Real Estate Council through its Foundation is focused on neighborhood revitalization. There is a public affairs committee, which emphasizes good government and public policy issues, and the Associate Leadership Council is focused on mentoring. Commercial real estate is probably the truest stakeholder in any community because the members' economic success depends on the quality of life in the city and region where they're doing business. They also have a serious interest in giving something back to the community where they've done business and where their families, live, work and play. It's really that impulse more than anything else that's reflected in this organization.

GlobeSt.com: What do you have planned for this year?

Owen: In 2004, we have four new initiatives that will further the foundation and the Council as a whole. The Municipal and Educational Leadership Teams is an outgrowth of the public affairs component. Members volunteer to serve as liaisons to the mayor's office, the city council and the Dallas Independent School District. The City of Dallas Land Bank is in the very early stages of creating the not-for-profit structure for running it. It meant going to Austin to get legislation changed. It meant allocating $3 million from a bond issue. The council has agreed to provide $250,000 in start-up costs and volunteers to implement it. The idea is, if the city can get control of the ownership of developable lots from delinquent tax rolls within the inner city, then affordable, single-family homes could be developed.

GlobeSt.com: How much property are we talking about?

Owen: There are as many as 17,000 lots. It's a demonstration program, so we want to stay very close to it for the next three years so we can prove that if you have a critical number of lots in a particular area with clean title that affordable-housing developers will come in and develop. It will be self-sustaining from the sale of lots to both for-profit and not-for-profit developers. The timeline is to try and foreclose on 300 lots by the end of this fiscal year.

GlobeSt.com: Aren't the land bank, MELT, the regional issues council and the $1 million set aside for an impact grant overlapping initiatives?

Owen: We're trying to make sure that every activity we do tactically accomplishes the strategy of the Real Estate Council, which is to stimulate the economic vitality and quality of life in North Texas by investing money and intellectual capital in our initiatives.

GlobeSt.com: How is the council funded? How much has it generated for projects through the years?

Owen: The council is membership-based and our salaries are funded by dues. The foundation's salaries, grants and programs come from two fund-raisers, FightNight in the spring and the fall gala, Dreamers, Doers and Unsung Heroes. FightNight historically is our biggest and has generated over $8 million in cash for the foundation, a 501 3C. With that, we've operated our foundation, created an endowment that now has $1.6 million in it and we've given $3 million in cash directly to the community. The volunteer hours are 3,000 per year. We think right now we're conservatively giving away about $500,000 in cash and $1.5 million in in-kind services each year.

GlobeSt.com: What is the success formula?

Owen: I think the formula for success has been that it's a diverse industry group with leverage and synergy so people have the opportunity to network with other industry groups that they will be doing business with for years. At the same time, they have the opportunity to give something back to the community. You can consider networking to be a byproduct of the good works or that the good works are a byproduct of the networking. It really doesn't matter because both goals are satisfied in everything we do, whether you're at a board meeting or out here fixing up a home. I've been president for six years and I've never once had a member decline, not agree to serve on the board or say they can't provide the pro bono services that we've asked of them.