We have just been notified that we have gotten though the final needle’s eye of the Realdania program – Places Matter. More specifically, this means that they intend to finance up to 70% of the building that’ll be Denmark's first matchmaking zone.
Needless to say, this brings us nothing less than a giant leap forward in the process that will eventually give us a truly unique place for meeting and creating together.
It’s indeed happy days and will be for a while, but before we know it, it’s back to work.
It’s important for us to emphasize that we are not there – not yet. As mentioned, Realdania will fund 70%. We still need 30% to fund the entire project. We have proposed a model in which the remaining portion will be financed by a combination of the Thisted Municipality and a credit union.
Whether or not this model is the way forward depends on several things - including local politics. In addition, the financing of the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the place must be ensured and kept on solid ground.
We’ll also emphasize that it is not us e.g., Mette, Benthe, Troles, Tina, Marie Louise, Rasmus, etc. who have been promised up to 70% of the financing for a matchmaking zone. It’s Cowork Klitmøller and thus all of us – residents as well as beta-residents – who have been given the opportunity to create a valuable venue in Klitmøller.
In other words: Economics is one thing, another and far more important thing is what we - all of us - intend to do with such a place. The things we’ll be doing will constitute “life” in the house and thus what’ll be of value. In the end, this will determine whether being part of a matchmaking zone in Klitmøller is good for people, skills, and business.
That said, start dreaming - this journey just became a whole lot more interesting.
Background:
On August 18, 2014, we submitted an application to the Realdania foundation. The work leading up to that moment had been a pretty intense process.
On January 16, 2014, we received confirmation that we had gone through the first needle’s eye in the Realdania program Places Matter.
This meant that we were part of a relatively small pool of projects selected for a process through which we were allowed to refine our idea and thus try to convince the jury that our idea is good enough for Realdania to invest rather heavily in.
Apparently, it is - and don’t we just love it?