Charitable News

New facility for Dallas women's shelter will double its impact

New facility will also be located near an accessible DART rail station.

Rendering courtesy of Genesis

A women's shelter that has served the Dallas area since 1985 has a new facility in the works that will potentially double its impact: Genesis Women's Shelter & Support will open a new $15 million center that will allow it to double the number of women and children it serves from 3,700 to 7,500.

Genesis, which provides safety, shelter, and support for women and children who have experienced domestic violence, currently operates two locations: a safe campus including an emergency shelter and transitional housing; and a non-residential office on Lemmon Avenue for advocacy, counseling, and legal services.

It's that second office that provides non-residential services for which Genesis has seen a rising demand.

The new non-residential space will encompass 28,600 square feet — twice the size of the current Lemmon Avenue office — and allow for a 65 percent increase in staff, which will lower its current waiting list for services.

Those services include a Children's Trauma Counseling Center, Legal Justice Center & Family Law Library, Tech Command Center, and the Genesis Institute for Training & Education.

The new location is at 2023 Lucas Dr., previously Lucas Street Antiques, off Harry Hines Boulevard in the Medical District. It's near the DART Rail, making it more accessible to those who lack transportation.

Jan Langbein, CEO of Genesis Women's Shelter & Support says in a statement that the majority of abused women need non-residential services that include counseling, advocacy, and legal services.

"The new building will allow us to expand upon these services so that we can break the generational cycle of abuse for thousands of women and children each year," she says.

The building is expected to open in the spring of 2022. Donations so far have come from the David B. Miller Family Foundation, The Rees-Jones Foundation, Nancy Best, and a challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation. Donations can be made at www.genesisshelter.org/capitalcampaign.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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