Commonplace Board President Megan Motil reading poetry at the first (unofficial) event in The Alluvion at Commongrounds.
Okay, let’s talk about the naming thing. Commonplace, Commongrounds. It’s confusing. We get it. Hell, we even screw it up sometimes.
(And having our friends and co-conspirators Groundwork and Higher Grounds in the building don’t make it any easier…Plus, now we have Common Good Bakery further down on Eighth St.)
But despite the similar names, Commonplace and Commongrounds are two different organizations. We are legally, operationally, and functionally distinct entities with our own separate staff, boards, budgets, and work. However, we also have some critical connective tissue which helps both of our organizations better serve our community. Commonplace is one of several tenant-owner organizations in the Commongrounds building.
We also created the handy table below to help highlight some of the ways in which we’re we’re aligned but different:
Mission/ What We Do: Commonplace is a community coworking and innovation hub which holds space for people who enliven healthy, collaborative, and creative organizations and communities to work, learn, and connect.
Structure: 501c3 Nonprofit
Role In 414 E. 8TH Street Building: Commonplace is one of several "Tenant-Owners" in the Commongrounds building. Commonplace manages a 3,000 sqr/ft coworking, private office, meeting, & community collaboration space on the 2nd floor of the new 8th St Building.
Mission/ What We Do: Commongrounds develops real estate designed to meet community needs and improve quality of life for all people in our region Our pilot project is 414 E. Eighth Street, a 4-story mixed-use building opening Fall 2022.
Structure: Real Estate Nonprofit Cooperative
Role In 414 E. 8TH Street Building: Commongrounds is landlord and owner of the building as a whole. They manage the design, development, primary construction, funding, tenant-relations, and cooperative governance for the entire four-story 8th St building.
Connective Tissue
What’s more important than our differences is what connects Commonplace and Commongrounds. Here are a few points which bring us together.
1. Commonplace’s monthly payments to Commongrounds help keep the lights on. Literally.
One of Commongrounds’ most critical revenue sources is the monthly payments from tenant owners for their space. Commonplace for example pays about $60,000 a year to Commongrounds toward our 30-year mortgage for our space.
We also pay cost of area maintenance (or CAM) for the spaces our members enjoy, but are outside of our coworking space proper. Keeping the hallways, bathrooms, stairs, elevator, and exterior spaces well lit, clean, and warm costs money, and we’re always happy to pay toward that.
We also help pay for the teaching kitchen which functions as our break room and for the internet infrastructure in the building. It’s all part of being a good tenant in a shared building!
2. Our executive director serves on the Commongrounds Cooperative board.
As a cooperative, Commongrounds is overseen by a board of directors. In addition to “community-owner representatives elected by the general members of the cooperative, there are also two “tenant owner representatives on the board.
Commonplace’s executive director—along with a rep from Groundworks—was elected by the other building tenant-owners to represent them at the board. During his three year term, its his job to hold space in board discussions for the needs and perspectives of all tenant-owners. It’s a job he takes seriously, even if his board picture suggests otherwise.
3. The Commongrounds project director serves on our board.
If you’re reading this, you probably know the marvelous human being, Kate Redman. Kate, along with other community members, founded Commonplace in 2016. She led our organization for several years before shifting her primary focus to helping birth Commongrounds as their project director. However, Kate still continues to serves as a critical advisor and guiding voice on the Commonplace board.
Wait, So Am I Automatically Part of Both?
Being a part of Commonplace one doesn’t automatically make you a part of Commongrounds, and vice versa. Just like being a member of a local grocery cooperative like Oryana doesn’t entitle you to go in and start eating produce off the shelf for free. You still have to actually pay for the food. (Trust us, we’ve tried…) Similarly, making a purchase at Oryana, doesn’t automatically mean you’re a member of the cooperative. For that you have to pay a membership fee.
The same is true with Commonplace and Commongrounds. To become a part of Commongrounds, you have to at least pay a one-time $50 fee. To use the drop-in coworking tables, meeting rooms, and other amenities at Commonplace, you need to be a paying member. (That’s how we pay our bills.)
But the good news is you can be a part of both of our great organizations!
--
Both Commonplace and Commongrounds share a strong commitment to creating a more interconnected, accessible and prosperous region. We share a similar network of like-minded changemakers and community leaders. And we both can’t wait for you to come check out the new building!
