Initiative links building owners with nonprofits

Initiative links building owners with nonprofits
The agencies need extra commercial space, and there’s plenty available
Dallas Business Journal - by Bill Hethcock Staff writer

An increased demand for space to store food and other supplies for the needy has prompted a Dallas energy consultant to play matchmaker between the nonprofit community and the commercial real estate industry.

Carolyn Cantrell, director of the Dallas office of Good Energy LP, has launched an initiative called “Good Space for Good People” in which her company will serve as a clearinghouse for commercial properties that landlords and building owners make available for nonprofits.

“Many nonprofits have a real need for more space right now because of the economy, and the commercial real estate community has more space than they’d like to have because leasing is down,” Cantrell said. “The economic downturn has provided an opportunity to tie them together.”

In addition, tax deductions may be available for in-kind donations of space, she said.

One of the organizations needing space is the North Texas Food Bank, said Jan Pruitt, the food bank’s president and CEO. NTFB’s member food pantries and other agencies it supplies have seen a sharp increase in first-time clients over the last six months. Many are recently laid-off workers who never imagined they would rely on a food pantry, soup kitchen or meal program for help, she said.

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] The North Texas Food Bank has distributed 3 million more meals this year than at this time last year, and its agencies have ordered 40% more food in the same period, Pruitt said.

“I think there is a win-win here,” Pruitt said. “If someone is unable to rent or lease out warehouse space, and they can get a tax write-off for helping the food bank, that’s a win on both sides.”

The rising demand has left the food bank in need of 70,000 to 90,000 square feet of warehouse and distribution space, said Paul Wunderlich, NTFB’s chief operating officer. About 260 nonprofits in 13 counties receive food from the food bank, and many of those groups need more warehouse space as well, he said.

The food bank especially needs cooler and freezer space, Wunderlich said. Ideally, the space would be in western Collin County, but the food bank is happy to consider any space, he said.

“You have to be innovative and nimble in the nonprofit industry, and you have to take advantage of opportunities as they come along,” he said.

NTFB currently operates out of a 70,000-square-foot warehouse it owns in South Dallas, which is at the southern end of its service area. The food bank would consider ownership or long-term leases in donated space, Pruitt said.

“We’re kind of like a kettle here,” Pruitt said. “We’re starting to boil and we need more space to relieve the pressure.”

In addition to the food bank, the recession has caused the Dallas-area chapter of the [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest.

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] American Red Cross and many other nonprofits to require not only additional warehouse space, but office and retail space as well, Cantrell said.

Nonprofits with a property request and building owners or commercial real estate firms with available property may contact Cantrell at 972-200-9777 or carolyn@goodenergy.com.