This cSpace Program Turns Vacant Calgary Buildings Into Vibrant Cultural Hubs

Experiencing arts and culture is at the heart of every thriving, bustling city — whether gallery hopping on a weekend, dropping in for a creative workshop hosted by a local artist or discovering up-and-coming talent at a live music festival. But, for artists to work on their craft, share knowledge and showcase their talents, they need a way of finding affordable and accessible space. That’s the problem Spacepilot, cSpace’s “meanwhile lease” pilot program, aims to address.

Founded in 2011, cSpace is a social enterprise supporting artists, arts and culture non-profits and creative entrepreneurs. Spacepilot, launched in 2022, sources affordable spaces for these communities. The meanwhile lease model, popular in the U.K. and elsewhere, allows for short-term, temporary occupancies of commercial spaces, typically until landlords fill those spaces with long-term tenants.

Spacepilot addresses the issue of vacant downtown commercial spaces and Calgary’s cultural vibrancy by creating affordable places for artists and non-profits to work without committing to a long-term lease. Many artists leave Calgary because of a lack of space to practise their craft, says cSpace president and CEO, Deeter Schurig. “What we’re trying to do is deal with a talent flight issue,” says Schurig. “Creatives need to land somewhere, and affordability is one of the key drivers.”

Spacepilot began as a research endeavour, supported by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation and Calgary Arts Development, to examine and address the issue of vacant commercial properties in the post-pandemic era. The idea was to temporarily activate vacant spaces and, ultimately, to provide opportunities for arts and culture to be the activation.

To get commercial landlords on board, Sean Dennie, cSpace’s director of space development, who has a background in commercial real estate and photography, acted as a facilitator between the landlords and brokers like CBRE Limited. The brokers then brought owners like Brookfield Properties and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. to the table to work with arts organizations like the Alcove Centre for the Arts and the Calgary Animated Objects Society.

Effectively, cSpace takes on the role of a creative-space brokerage, matching potential tenants with properties. Spacepilot leases typically include a short termination clause, but each deal is bespoke. A short termination clause allows the space to be used while commercial landlords look for long-term tenants, and these leases can be as short as 30 days. This lowers the commitment and cost for artists, while landlords receive a property tax exemption for leasing their spaces to non-profits and modest cost recovery from rent (which is lower than a typical commercial tenant would pay).

Artists need stability, which Dennie says is demonstrated by the fact many leases in the Spacepilot program have been renewed. “The program, [is also] helping mentor young organizations through developing capacity, without tying them into a five-year lease,” says Dennie. “It’s really a safe place to incubate, and you carry them through what could be a very challenging transition or time [where] they get an opportunity to try things that they might not otherwise be able to try in a safe, supported environment.”

Before Spacepilot, the average vacancy for the commercial properties in the program was 832 days. At the end of 2024, Spacepilot had 35 leases totalling 63,000 square feet of space that was either leased, licensed or pledged. Some 82 arts organizations, including 16 major arts tenants, used these spaces for hundreds of events, including performances, workshops and rehearsals.

There have been more than 56,214 visitors since Spacepilot started in 2022, and the program has saved arts organizations more than $1 million in leasing fees, compared to commercial rates.

Another plus is that occupancy in these buildings creates traffic for nearby businesses. “We’ve seen that play out where an activated space with arts and culture groups now starts attracting new, permanent, long-term tenants,” says Schurig.

For Dennie, Spacepilot has become his way of repaying the opportunity that he had as a young photographer, when he was able to hone his craft in what, at the time, was the largest studio in Calgary. “It’s important to develop the talent, and the more talent we can develop, then the stronger our [arts and culture] sector is going to become,” he says.

The Historic Fire Hall 1 and the North-West Travellers building downtown recently joined the Spacepilot program. Eventually, the two buildings will be transformed into permanent arts-and-culture hubs in the city, enriching the iconic spaces and reinvigorating the downtown core.

“Artists, culture makers and storytellers are the critical ingredient in vibrant cities, and the spaces become a critical way of keeping them,” says Schurig. “It’s absolutely critical that they have places to live, places to work and also places to present.”

The Blox: A Spacepilot Success Story

One of cSpace Spacepilot program tenants seeing great success is the Blox BIA, the organization formerly known as the Beltline Business Improvement Area. This community of Beltline businesses, opportunities and experiences includes the Blox Arts Centre, and is located inside a 10,000 square-foot space on 11th Avenue S.W. With the Spacepilot program, the Blox Arts Centre has become a community hub with events like weekly live local music and comedy performances. The Blox Arts Centre is one of the only music venues in the city that is all ages, says executive director Katie Thies.

“We just wanted [a place] where the community can come and gather and share these different arts experiences,” says Thies. “Doesn’t matter what their age is or what their accessible needs are, it’s a space for everyone.”

Thies says this is Blox BIA’s second lease with cSpace. The BIA has been leasing the building for more than a year and shares it with local improv group The Kinkonauts. RadiCare Ventures, a social-enterprise startup that offers urban cleaning services like graffiti removal and waste removal to organizations like the Marda Loop and Calgary Chinatown BIAs, offers its services to tenant organizations inside the Blox in exchange for room to store cleaning supplies. The current space is adorned with artworks from a rotation of local artists and features two large venues for hosting live events such as Sled Island festival shows. The building has accessibility ramps and gender-neutral bathrooms.

The Blox Arts Centre’s programming has grown significantly since it was established in 2023. Today, it welcomes between 400 to 600 attendees every week for live music events, comedy shows and rehearsals, markets, dance performances and more.

“We’ve brought so many people down to the zone,” says Thies. “We’ve had businesses tell us that this has directly impacted them positively. Businesses have reached out and said, ‘Whatever you guys are doing, keep doing it.’”

The Blox Arts Centre, 834 11 Ave. S.W., bloxartscentre.ca

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