A Dallas landlord in search of a tenant is trying a novel way to lure one in: offering use of the space for free.

It's a storefront at 5440 E. Grand Ave. in East Dallas, owned by Patrick Donlin who bought the property in early 2022.

Donlin has been creative about marketing his spaces and tenants, including new restaurants Mixtitos Kitchen and Mami Coco, both located in the same center, and both the recipients of lots of great press.

Now, Donlin is offering vendors or ambitious makers the chance to set up in the storefront for a day, experiment with a pop-up, and see what may bloom down the road.

"Ultimately, we are looking for a retail tenant to move into the space in January," he says. "But we don't think we're going to rent it in the next 60 days, so we're making the space available and hopefully someone can benefit from that."

It's surely better than sitting empty, as it has, sort of, since the '90s.

"The space has not had a certificate of occupancy for 22 years," Donlin says. "It was previously part of La Acapulqueña restaurant. They wanted to make it a banquet hall, but meanwhile were using it as storage."

"But the whole space was filled with trash," he says. "There were leaks in the ceiling, and they put out buckets to catch the leaks - but instead of dumping out the water, they just threw sawdust on the floor. It was a mess."

Now it's spruced up and ready for your art studio for a day, your one-day flea market, your impromptu baby shower, your pop-up jewelry shop.

"Going into a brick & mortar is a big step," he says. "We're trying to target home-based businesses who could do a pop-up as they consider growing into a bigger space. If it helps them have a good Christmas season, maybe they'll consider renting our next space."

They've already signed up a boxing mentoring organization as well as a crafter who sells calendars and dreams of having a retail store.

It should be noted that the "free" offer extends only to weekdays. On Fridays and Saturdays, they're charging $500 a day. Their basic model is to make it available for one day at a time, although Donlin says they're open to longer periods of time, depending on what's available. (For bookings, call 214-484-8085 or email kristyn.taylor@heartlanditc.com.)

"Most landlords would just let the space sit empty," he says. "We're trying to do this for fun, and give people a platform to have a practice run at no cost. Our goal as a landlord is to get someone to come to this location and say, 'I'd love to have my own store'."