Placemaking, Sustainability and Community Investment for the SDGs
Creating Space for Change at 42 Carden St.
10C was born in 2008, operating a cozy shared community space at 10 Carden St., in Downtown Guelph. 10C’s initial offering was a single shared meeting room which was perfect for community gatherings, later expanded with a small coworking offering. As 10C’s membership and organizational capacity grew the space became a meeting place where community minded changemakers could come together.
By 2014, 10C was ready to consider expanding from this original space. With the help of an Ontario Trillium Foundation SEED project grant, 10C began evaluating other locations and considering the use of community bonds as a part of the financing model for this ambitious project. In this process, 10C engaged collaborators, coworkers and co-tenants to help imagine possibilities of bringing the values of sharing and collaboration to a new placemaking project. Through these community conversations – an opportunity emerged to redevelop an iconic downtown building – a opportunity that would help 10C create even more space for change.
Between 2016 and 2018, 42 Carden Street, a landmark 15,000 sq ft commercial building in Guelph (the former Acker’s Furniture Store) was purchased and redeveloped by 10C into a thriving community hub. The property was fully renovated with barrier-free access and accessible features, including a new passenger elevator, energy efficient windows, new LED lighting throughout, and a state of the art rain water harvesting system. Nourish Kitchen, a shared commercial kitchen space, was added in 2020.
Placemaking for 10C is about building shared community value. 10C was built on two core values of sharing and caring. We all share and stewards this property at 42 Carden Street, a physical asset that we are very much leaning into the future with.
Julia Grady, Co-founder and Executive Director, 10C Shared Space
More recently, 10C has taken on the management and operations role of the Guelph Farmers’ Market (2 Gordon St. In the first year of this project, 10C raised funds to start work on an ambitious $2.1M renovation project of the Market building. This project has resulted in a number of necessary capital improvements to the aging Market building as well construction of a new shared commercial kitchen, accessible gender neutral washrooms and permanent and flexible booth space to accommodate a greater number of vendors year round.
In 2024, 10C managed 40,000+ sq ft. of social purpose real estate in Downtown Guelph. Through the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and community spaces 10C works to advance SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
10C’s approach to placemaking has leveraged social finance and community bonds as a unique tool to ensure community investment and ownership in large scale projects, like 42 Carden St. Community bonds as a core tool provide a unique opportunity for community members to invest directly in their community and see the direct impacts of tier investments. 10C’s first community bond program engaged 140 retail investors. The majority of these investors (87%) were from the local community with 66% having incomes below $100,000 per year. Investment amounts ranged from $1,000 – $183,000 with an average investment of approximately $18,000.
Since the beginning, 10C has prioritized sustainability. During the renovation of 42 Carden St, efforts to reduce the environmental footprint were top of mind. With new energy efficient windows installed as well as a new HVAC system and LED lighting throughout the space, the nearly 100 year old building was given a significant climate friendly facelift! New cisterns for rainwater capture were also installed on the roof along with a state of the art water recycling system to help 10C utilized rainwater – and reduce the use of treated water from municipal sources. Learn more about rainwater harvesting at 10C here!
Sustainable materials were also incorporated throughout the renovation project. Tiles donated by Fireclay tiles, a Certified B corp, are 100% carbon neutral and manufactured from recycled materials. Flor carpet tiles used in the space are also a sustainable choice manufactured with recycled materials and where possible, original building elements were maintained and restored.
The impact created by 10C radiates out from 42 Carden St. Expanding its approach to space sharing and placemaking to the Guelph Farmers’ Market, 10C is taking on another ambitious project – backed by community support and a dedicated staff team. The community engaged processes and values that helped bring the adaptive reuse of 42 Carden St. to life continue to support projects, programs and activation across a growing membership. In 2024 and beyond, 10C continues to create (shared) space for change!
