HEATHER EWING: The CRE RUNdown

Ep. 58 Tim Dowling - Igniting Growth Through Perseverance and Purpose in Business

• Heather Ewing, CCIM • Season 1 • Episode 58

Share episode

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with entrepreneur and visionary Tim Dowling to explore his journey of building meaningful businesses rooted in the heart of Buda. Tim shares how perseverance and purpose have shaped his approach to business, from staying close to the communities he serves to fostering inclusive, creative spaces that uplift lives.

We dive into what it really takes to grow something with heart. Why subject matter expertise matters, how creativity fuels progress, and why proximity is more than just geography. Tim opens up about the challenges, the wins, and the deeper “why” behind building businesses that don't just generate income but also spark belonging and connection.

If you're passionate about leadership, creativity, and creating businesses that matter, this conversation will leave you motivated and grounded in what truly drives sustainable success.

Tune in and get inspired to build boldly, lead with intention, and stay rooted in community.

Support the show

Heather Ewing:

Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown. I have a true treat for you today. I have none other than Tim Dowling. He is an amazing person, developer, that you are going to want to meet. He hails from the edge of Boston, texas, tim welcome.

Tim Dowling:

Thank you so much, heather. I'm so excited that, for those that don't know, I've already been talking to Heather for some time and I could go on and on and on. As you know, heather's quite amazing at what she does building community and becoming really the resource to the resources in the area, and so, yeah, having an opportunity to have a discussion with someone like this is pretty fantastic. So the edge of Butte or the edge of Austin, the easy way to describe that one is I'm in a little town called Buda. No one pronounces it right, so I just said yeah, exactly.

Tim Dowling:

So we are literally just touching the south edge of Austin. I've lived here in the community now it's closing in on 23 years, but then, even before that, I've been within a whole 12 miles of here for about 35. It's kind of ridiculous. I can relate. So anyway, heather, where would you like to start? I know we were just having a discussion on your post today on linkedin, which I found absolutely time sensitive, perfect, uh, and it had to do with it's. It's well you describe what your post is about, because it's about persistence and focus which you know, I think really applies beautifully to everything that you're doing.

Heather Ewing:

In its Buda Buda, you nailed it All right Because you know, being an entrepreneur, being in commercial real estate and a developer such as yourself, it requires you to wear so many different hats and there's so many different things that are happening simultaneously that when people are not familiar with commercial, it really throws them for a loop. And I had noticed on your post this morning on LinkedIn about the roundabout and also pulling in the community one to gather ideas for collaboration and to really enrich the community. And I love that approach that you took, tim, because what happens and you see it is developers will.

Heather Ewing:

I mean, obviously that's home for you, but developers will come into areas and want to force through everything, and especially in smaller towns such as yours and ours here in Madison, that it's really going to turn people off and, if anything, they're going to dig their heels in. Oh yes, getting what you want. So tell us more about your development of the project, maybe kind of a little further out vantage point, and then let's break it down, let's hear more about this roundabout and what you have going on.

Tim Dowling:

You bet Well. So I'll start it off with what you just nailed, it is, listening and talking to the community. Three years ago and it literally is three years ago I started a meetup because I have my 36th one this next Tuesday in the Austin or the Buda area, and what it was is I didn't really have a plan of what I was doing. And what it was is I didn't really have a plan of what I was doing. All I knew is I wanted to talk about commercial development in Hayes County and my goal was hey, I wonder if I can get city leaders, different people in the area, to all come out and say this is what we need. And you know, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I didn't know if it was going to work, but I said heck with it, I'm playing it forward. And I started the meetup in my very first speaker I contacted the county commissioner that was for up for election, so he loved to talk and I said hey, you want to come tell us what you think the area needs. And it just it was a steamroller effect because it happened to be the city manager for Buda. There wasn't, he wasn't, he didn't have the position yet. He just was transferred into a temporary position, was given the task of outreach, and so he he happens to be there. So I asked him would you come to my next meetup and tell me what you think the city of Buda needs?

Tim Dowling:

And then it was the development team, then it was the EDC and it was just this overwhelming, compelling piece that there was this huge void in our market which was retail. They had a study done. It was something like a couple hundred million dollars. A study done, it was something like a couple hundred million dollars. We're leaving our area, going just up the road to austin, because we're 15 minutes to get to downtown austin. And then we have another town, just, uh, just on the south edge of us that are that touches, touches us, and they're 200 million dollars, but it's a town called kyle, running away. We didn't have any retail. So it just happened to be.

Tim Dowling:

My partners own a bunch of restaurant bars. They're in the hospitality industry, yeah, and I was like, wait, what if we build? We just want and selfishly we were like, hey, we could just buy some land and build a restaurant. There's there's not a spot for family run type places where kids can run. So anyway, we locked in on this one little three acre spot that had been on the market for like a year and we played forward with it. And then we were staring at this second lot next to us. It was 15 acres but it was in a floodplain. We didn't at the time. We thought 11 of the acres were in the floodplain, four usable acres. But they were pricing it as you know this as a commercial broker, sellers price it not at what the reality sometimes is.

Heather Ewing:

Yes, that can happen, oddly.

Tim Dowling:

Yes, but they were very stubborn on the numbers and so we came up with an idea. Have you read, heather, any of those Rich Dad, poor Dad books? I haven't. No, wow man. See, in my world, I don't know why from my side, on the investment side, everyone within my group, it's like we all see it as kind of like that first initial step off of the Bible. Like that first initial step off of the Bible.

Tim Dowling:

And there was a story in the book that talked about how Kiyosaki had seen this land and he bought some. He wanted ranch land or a farm, and then he sat back and said man, I'm paying a lot for this. What if I cut this thing in half and then I end up selling it off and then I have my stuff for free? That's what he did, and I sat there looking at this land. I wonder if the city will partner with us on this project and actually provide us tax incentives and to make this thing work, because we can't afford this. But at the same time, there's this huge void and they are seeking sales tax dollars and it worked.

Heather Ewing:

Definitely Well, and I think that's the interesting thing, right, and I've definitely heard of the book, right, you hear a lot about it.

Heather Ewing:

I end up with a lot of conversations within the CCIM community, commercial investment members throughout the nation, and I'm on the board and first RVP for the region, so I'm definitely engaged in that. But what you share with that, that's also where I see the creativity of commercial real estate. Right, you have a canvas, you have a desire. How do you layer on? And what process, people and entities do you need to bring in right through collaboration to create what you're envisioning in your mind? Right, and I think that's the useful part of the retail restaurants you really do bring people together. It also, I think, it creates experiences and that's what people are desiring. It also creates monetary gain.

Heather Ewing:

Right for a tenant, for a landlord. Um, the community is enriched. Right, it has different experiences. It has people from different areas or maybe different menus that haven't been there, different outdoor layouts and experiences. So you really can layer it on and I think what happens is the more creative the investor or the broker. Right, it's a kit and caboodle that you're going to have that elevated experience and that's where I think it's also really important for travels. As you travel to different communities, like yourself, you can live in a space for a long time and that does not mean you're narrow minded, because you're out, out and about, you're expanding, you're reading, you're visiting different states, countries, things of that nature. So a global perspective locally, and to me that's a true.

Heather Ewing:

I love how your brain rolls oh yeah, it's like like we were saying before we started recording, my mind is always going like yours, which is another reason for all the miles.

Tim Dowling:

That's fantastic.

Tim Dowling:

No, it is because you know there's nothing that I'm sure you have the same belief because of all your involvement with your, with Madison, is, you know, whenever you hit here that thing, Well, that that's not the way we do it.

Tim Dowling:

It's like you just want to shrivel up and cry.

Tim Dowling:

And you know, like you said too is a lot of times I mean there's been some other investment groups that are coming in.

Tim Dowling:

They have this one idea of what they're going to do, and this is what they do, and they stamp it everywhere they go, because you're working in that downtown district, is creating a place that draws all types so that they can, you know, spend the time, have an experience, and it is once you come up with those realizations it's not like for you know, for me, in retail, you can drop a box, you can put a tenant in there, and and there's a town just south of me I won't name it on here just because I don't want to say anything negative but they've created these boxes and all people do is they drive in, they stop, walk into their box, they to be able to, and I haven't really broken it down yet, but you know our, our concept, and if anyone's curious, you can go online. It's roundaboutinbutacom. It's long. I know it was shorter, but we were told we needed to change the name or or or have some consequences. But anyway, that's a different story. But what we've done right.

Tim Dowling:

We have an 18 and a half acre site. We have 1760 square foot or foot of street frontage. It's incredible. I cannot believe no one ever grabbed hold of it. You know, in the past, when you talk about visions, everyone was trying to buy it to either put a gas station. They wanted to put a funeral home, goodwill wanted to drop a 30,000 square foot right in the middle of all these neighborhoods with a median household income of almost $110,000. But one thing that was not there. Or actually, let me give the other one the taboo for my area multifamily, and I'm a multifamily guy.

Tim Dowling:

I have another project. We're building a large one just just a little bit north of buta in austin, but it's a big 431 unit. But it's a taboo. No one looked at it and said what could I? I do that the area needs. No one asked those questions. So now you know we're building a 64,000 square foot retail space. I'm going to actually operate two of the restaurants in the space because of my partners that are in hospitality. They own, I don't know, let's say, six or seven different restaurant bar concepts, all real, unique, authentic, experience type pieces.

Tim Dowling:

Are they interested in Madison no.

Heather Ewing:

We are so focused right here, let it germinate. I'll be here when they're ready.

Tim Dowling:

Funny enough, you'll like this one. My investment rule is I now will only invest within 12 miles of my house.

Heather Ewing:

No, I get it. I mean, it's one of those. There is no replica for boots on the ground. Yes, and you cannot. You know, co -star, all the different MLSs, they're great, but it's not the same, and that's where too, especially for leases none of us report lease rates.

Heather Ewing:

None of us, I mean in the 11 years, not once. And that's where, too, it's. You know it's nice in the sense of if you've been in the industry for a while and you've accumulated a lot of, you know good clients, deals, things of that nature, and you really know what will be given in deals, what won't be. All those little nuances.

Tim Dowling:

Yes, subject matter expertise is so insanely important and I was investing 300 miles from my house. What a nightmare it was If I wanted to go visit the property instead of jumping in the car and just tooling down on my way to the grocery store. I was having to make weeks in advance planning when I was going to make my distance. Covid was my big uh, I guess you'd say education. Covid taught me that. Why am I wasting my life with these outside influence pieces? Why am I not playing with what I know and what I understand and you know same thing? I can guarantee with you everything you've learned, everything you've done, and even with the sports aspect that we've talked about prior. It's all building blocks on what you are today and it's a never ending learning opportunity of what makes sense and just keeping your ears open and listening to the people around you.

Heather Ewing:

Well, and I think that's where, too, we have a parallel of genuine curiosity and also an interest in up leveling people's lives and our own, and I think as we up level ours, we're better able to help others do that. And that's also where I love the tie in of your Ironman and you think of my marathoning is that you know marathoning, that's an understatement.

Heather Ewing:

You're too kind, but it's one of those of. It allows you to have a goal, the big picture, and you break it down and you also build the muscle of when you really don't feel like going out and training. That you acknowledge it and then you override it. The same applies to investing, developing, you know, brokering different transactions is that there is inevitably going to be some unique wrench and it's knowing that it's going to happen of you know, appropriately dealing with it, communicating, getting resourceful and moving beyond.

Tim Dowling:

So tell us more about it. There was a piece I was just thinking about as you're talking, so this quote I saw the other day by John D Rockefeller and I might have even shared it with you, I don't know. I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature. I mean that. It says it all.

Heather Ewing:

And, if you think about it, resourcefulness is an element of that right, and I think what happens, too is as we utilize different life experiences across all of the chapters right, I've always said that your life experiences can either bury you or they can give you wings, and to me, resourcefulness, perseverance, wings, and to me, resourcefulness, perseverance those are game changers which has gotten you to where you're at, and that's what I love.

Tim Dowling:

Yeah, as I already shared today, I was retooling my entire offering memorandum last night because I realized it was off base and so, yeah, we're not normal Heather.

Heather Ewing:

And I appreciate that Life would be boring Tim.

Tim Dowling:

Yeah.

Heather Ewing:

Yeah. So how does someone get involved? You've got this great project. You're bringing in the retail. You've got solid operators that have several, six or seven plus units. How does someone get involved more? How do they learn more?

Tim Dowling:

You know, we're actually going out for what we call our construction phase financing. We're doing the 506 or not financing money raise. We're doing a 506C, so it's for accredited investors. So, honestly, if there's anybody looking at an opportunity right now, we have got one that I think is absolutely stellar. It's because it's not just your traditional hey, here's our internal, here's our exit. Our actual plan with it is, if it's even possible, we would love to create a legacy. Well, we know we're going to create a legacy for generations, but the real truth is, if there's a way to tool it in three years, once we have the project stabilized, we would love the opportunity. If we, if our investment group feels the same way and everything it plays out like we expect to actually refinance and hold it long term. And those that want to take because some folks are in that theory state I will three to five years, I want to take my money and run and do my next. Well, I'm the guy that I love my goose and I'd rather keep my goose alive and happy and just take those eggs and enjoy what it's, what it's producing, because, as you know, within real estate you not only get all the benefits of appreciation, you know just the market changing overall and you know I live kind of Madison, austin, texas is booming and going right now with a little bit of a slowdown, but it's we're the first to kind of drop off and we're the first back into the game. The second, the market makes its change, you know. So you know you got all the depreciation, everything else, but back to it. You know you got all the depreciation, everything else, but back to it. I'm doing that. 506 C.

Tim Dowling:

If anybody is interested, they can find me through the website, the roundabout in budacom, or find me on LinkedIn, tim Dowling, d O, w, l, I, n, g, and, and please reach out, I can. I'd happy to get you our deck. As I said, I'm retooling it off last night. So right now I can't tell you that. It's how. It might be completely crazy looking because I didn't sleep enough. But we, we, yeah, the returns are really exciting. We're, we're really looking for people that want to be part of something absolutely cool and then when they come into town I'll buy them a nice Guinness, cause we are one of the places we're opening up as an Irish pub. Uh, they have an Irish pub in South Austin and it's just phenomenally successful. So my partners have done that one. So we're just going to redo it with a different name and bigger and better, and that's perfect.

Heather Ewing:

All right. So here's my last question for you, tim, and this one is always the. This is the tough one, all right, oh boy, living fully mean to you.

Tim Dowling:

Do you know it's given it your all, it's coming up with a goal and not letting anything stop you or getting in your way Cause I know I'm can guarantee you along the way you've had people tell you, heather, you can't do this, you can't do that. Um, it's it. Living fully is seeing goals and then playing through, no matter what the path, even with fdr. I just, you know, went through his quote perseverance, playing it out at the same point. It's making sure to have that time to spend with family or friends, that it's stopping those moments along the way and actually enjoying what you're doing. I there was actually one of the things I remember I think it was last week is, you know, celebrate your wins. And uh, you know, I just got a permit on phase one. Now we're just tooling out with our bank and we're going to move the dirt. But you know it's there's so many things going on in our businesses and everything is moving so fast You've got to stop and say, woohoo, we won, and then you get back to work.

Heather Ewing:

Exactly, and I think it's so easy. You know, like you said, we're both driven people and it's like well, well, of course, that's what you do, right? So I think it's interesting because yourself, myself and I've noticed kind of a trend this year of people really bringing the attention to celebrating the small things instead of just always go, go, go, go go, and I think that's that's really an enlightening, and it's sometimes the simple things that are the most challenging, right? Can I throw it back at?

Tim Dowling:

you, what is yours?

Heather Ewing:

My celebration. Or lift, or the.

Tim Dowling:

What do you see as being like being successful? What do you picture is something that you know you're striving to be or to do or overall Right.

Heather Ewing:

So to me, living fully is alignment. It's really understanding those innermost depths of oneself of what you require financially, physically, socially, emotionally require financially, physically, socially, emotionally. And I think it's in lining all of those up right and it's a curated life, because otherwise the days, months and years go so quickly that you can be blazing down a path and realize years later that wasn't even the path that you wanted to be on right. You get caught up in different things. So for me it is having that fullness of heart, a spiritual connection running, having the physicality and loved ones and family and, of course, travel with creative expressions, so melding all of those and that's what I really focused on doing with Abstract.

Tim Dowling:

When are you going to become the mayor of?

Heather Ewing:

Madison, that's funny. I've I've heard that statement and a couple others, but like I'm honored, I'm honored. But, tim, it was truly great to connect with you. And one last time. How can people connect with you?

Tim Dowling:

Probably the easy. Well, I don't know what's the easiest way to share. Would it be my email, a phone number, just the website?

Heather Ewing:

Whatever you prefer.

Tim Dowling:

I'm open. So let's just say the LinkedIn page is probably the easiest. It's T-I-M Dowling, d-o-w-l-i-n-g, and I believe I either have Austin or Buda in there or, if you can't find it, roundaboutinbudacom. All emails and phone numbers go directly to me.

Heather Ewing:

Perfect Tim. Thanks so much. No thank you, Heather?

Tim Dowling:

Yeah, I really look forward to this discussion.

Heather Ewing:

Me too. We'll have many more.

Tim Dowling:

Awesome, enjoy your day.

Heather Ewing:

Thank you, you too.