Denver Shared Spaces

The Denver Shared Space Project is currently accepting applications to help support the enhanced development of existing and emerging shared office space communities throughout the City and County of Denver.

This call for applications is designed to provide consulting support to existing or emerging multi-tenant nonprofit centers to reach an expanded level of impact and success in 2012. Applications may be submitted by building owners, a master tenant, or a group of nonprofit tenants who are currently sharing space. All applicants must either own, already be occupying, or have signed a lease and be preparing to occupy a building.

Examples of deliverables that may be produced through work with the Denver Shared Space Project consultants include: governance and tenant engagement agreements; marketing plans and lease up; financial projections and modeling for building owners or tenants; enhanced space planning and programming; conservation and sustainability plans; strategic plans to capitalize on points of intersection between tenant programming; community engagement plans; and other supports.
Click here to download the application.

Two years ago, the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships, Urban Land Conservancy, and Piton Foundation invited you to provide us with some information and feedback about your organization’s current and future interest in sharing space and resources with other nonprofit organizations in Denver.

We were thrilled with the response received and now would like to update our survey and gain understanding of the current space needs of Denver’s non-profit community. Your participation will help the City of Denver and its partners better understand how to use and direct its resources to support nonprofit shared space efforts and better meet community need. We hope to find creative and streamlined ways to help organizations participating in this survey take advantage of the many benefits that come with shared space opportunities. 

Learning Community:
Date: Wednesday November 9th
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Location: The Alliance Center (1536 Wynkoop Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room)

This informative session will be hosted by John Powers of The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado (http://sustainablecolorado.org), who will be joined by Lara Jakubowski of LWJ Consulting. The focus of this session will be shared services, as presented from two different perspectives: shared services within shared space and shared services within a community. John and Lara will provide insight into different realms of shared services, including training, legal agreements, IT, billing, data management, etc. After our robust discussion of the issue, we’ll tour the Alliance Center – to see how these shared services are put into practice.

Prior to the learning community session – we invite you to browse through a free preview (available for download from the link below) of the shared services guide, as provided by the NonprofitCenters Network: http://www.nonprofitcenters.org/resources/shared-services-guide/

Given the breadth of shared services available, please think about any key points you hope to learn about/take away from this session – and feel free to email me with any specifics, so we will be sure to touch on them in the session. Also – please bring with you any examples of shared services utilized within your space and/or organization – such as MOU’s, leases, or any other legal documents you are willing to share with the group. Remember - the goal of the learning community is to be interactive, and for participants to learn from each other throughout the process – so we’d love to hear about your experiences!

Finally, just as a reminder – this is the 3rd in a series of topics originally selected based on interest and expertise levels within the group made evident by the survey we conducted earlier this year. Please take a look at the remaining topics listed below, and think about any additional topics that interest you, so that we can continue to provide valuable future sessions of the learning community:

• Measuring impact
• Tenant and community engagement
• Capital upgrades
• Leases and memorandums of understanding

Please RSVP by emailing Lauren_Eller@nthp.org if you are able to attend. I will send out an Outlook invite as the event draws nearer to those who have RSVP’d to the session. We look forward to seeing everyone after a long hiatus – and are confident this will be a great session!

There is a new shared space opportunity at the Emerson School! Spearheaded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this is a wonderful opportunity for any nonprofit organization - with rents priced below market rates to help sustain a nonprofit center. The building will undergo a complete 'green' rehabilitation starting in August 2011 - which is why no interior photos are posted at this time. The space should be available in February 2012 - complete with a geothermal heating/cooling system and energy-efficient lighting among other things. Design your own space-layout with an allowance for tenant finish to truly make the space "yours"! This space includes use of common areas in the main Emerson School building, as well as a beautiful landscape that will accommodate outdoor eating, socializing, parties, etc. Ample street parking exists, in addition to free parking for every tenant (3.25 spaces per 1,000 square feet rented) and possible event parking if needed. Be a part of a wonderful project that incorporates not only the green rehabilitation of the Historic Emerson School - but also utilizes best practices in historic preservation and a strong effort to revitalize the surrounding Capitol Hill neighborhood. Please contact Lauren Eller at Lauren_Eller@nthp.org
for more details, or to schedule a tour!

A new shared space has emerged at The Aurora Human Rights Center. AHRC occupies a small, two-story brick building on the corner of Dayton Street and 14th Avenue in what's called Original Aurora, which is in north Aurora. The five nonprofits housed there include El Centro Humanitario, Rights for All People, the Lowry Family Center, the Somali Community Center, and the Strengthening Neighborhoods Program of the Denver Foundation.

Read more: Griego: Cultures melt into a stronger community

For the past nine months, Lakewood-based International Development Enterprises (iDE) has been working to create an international development-focused collaborative center in central Denver. iDE is a nonprofit that provides irrigation, water storage and technology to poor, small-scale farmers around the world. There are about several hundred multi-tenant non-profit centers around the country, but this initiative, named the Greenhouse Project, will be one of the first dedicated to international development.

Read more: Romanoff's Greenhouse Project to help world's poor farmers - The Denver Post

Please plan to join us for the next convening of the Denver Shared Space Learning Community:

Date: Wednesday July 13th
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Location: People House (3035 W 25th Avenue, Denver CO 80211)

This energizing session will be hosted by Katie Brown from People House (www.peoplehouse.org). Partnering with Margaret Abrams with the Domestic Violence Resource & Planning Team in the Denver DA’s Office, Mike Garvey with the Economic Prosperity Center, and Lisa Duran with Rights for All People, the focus of this session will be program collaboration – examined from both an internal and external perspective, and how this concept can enhance the quality of tenant interaction within shared spaces. Gain insight into how organizations are currently applying this concept, take a tour of People House, and engage in robust discussion with fellow shared space practitioners about your own successes and challenges in this arena.

We invite you to give some thought before you come about the things you are doing in your own centers surrounding program collaboration – how would you define the concept in your space? What has worked and what has not been successful?

Just as a reminder – this is the 2nd in a series of topics, selected based on interest and expertise levels within the group made evident by the survey we conducted earlier this year. The remaining sessions are as follows:

• Program collaboration between tenants in shared space (July)
• Shared services (September)
• Measuring impact
• Tenant and community engagement
• Capital upgrades
• Leases and memorandums of understanding

Please RSVP to Lauren Eller at lauren_eller@nthp.org if you are able to attend. We look forward to seeing everyone next week!

The DSSP website has a new article! Take a look at the article here . The article provides a guide to green tenant improvements for shared space.

The Denver Shared Space Project invites you to learn from peers across the city about ways to improve your shared space experience and reduce challenges. Please join us as we kick off a new learning community, specifically designed for those in existing or emerging multi-tenant non-profit centers or other shared office space scenarios.

This new group will provide an opportunity for networking, learning, and collective thinking and conversation about practical ways to address common challenges and take advantage of common opportunities that arise out of shared space.

Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Time: 4:00 - 6:00 pm

Place: Green Spaces Colorado, 1368 26th Street, Denver

RVSP: to OEDEventsRSVP@denvergov.org. Please indicate Shared Space Learning Community in the subject line.

Our first meeting will graciously be hosted by Greenspaces Denver, as space that provides an open office environment and supportive activites for social entrepreneurs, startups and freelancers. If you haven't seen it, the space is a must-see! We will have plenty of food and drink as well.

The Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition (CJDC) has found its new home at the office of Colorado Housing Assistance Corporation (CHAC) through the Denver Shared Space Project website.  Located at 670 Santa Fe Blvd., CJDC's new space is approximately 400 square feet and is leased from CHAC at a very affordable rate.  

CHAC listed their available office space on the DSSP website in late September 2010 and the Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition listed their office space needs in early November, 2010.  Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition's mission is to improve the quality of juvenile defense and the treatment of youth in Colorado’s juvenile justice system. CHAC's mission is to help make housing and successful homeownership affordable to low and moderate income Colorado people.  This new non-profit shared space is an ideal fit in terms of mission, location, and rental rates.

Both groups used the online tools on the Denver Shared Space Project website and found this forum to be a very effective tool.  "My experience with the [Denver Shared Space] site was great; easy to use and an excellent resource for non-profits to connect and work together," said Kim Dvorchak, Executive Director of Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition.