Vacant since last summer, the site occupied by Orange in the Soupetard district is in the process of finding tenants. This set of three buildings overlooking both rue du Général Ferrié and rue Soupetard housed the former regional management of the operator in Toulouse and its central kitchen. A huge space of 8,000 m2 with offices, meeting rooms, car parks, company restaurant and café that its owner, a real estate company based in Paris, had to plan to wall up. The Intercalaire agency convinced her to open it up to associations and neighborhood project leaders for at least two years, the time to decide on the future of this site. This Toulouse cooperative, created in 2017, specializes in temporary occupations of unused buildings for economic, social, cultural and solidarity projects. The Intercalaire team is not at its first attempt. It was she in particular who in 2019 had proposed to the State to temporarily use the former Ensica student residence, on the site of the former CEAT, to house homeless families. It is also she who manages the spaces of the Herbes Folles in the Bonnefoy district and the Collectif Abbal, open since March 2022 in vacant premises made available by the town hall at the Reynerie. In Soupetard, the Intercalaire agency has signed a derogatory lease with the owner which allows it to invest the entire site and sublet spaces at reduced prices to associations or project leaders.

At least two years

“We carried out a study and provided the owner with technical and legal solutions to implement this temporary occupation which will last at least 24 months. These premises, instead of remaining empty and being degraded, will accommodate a mixed and dynamic, open to all audiences and to the neighborhood. Entrepreneurs, cultural associations, actors of the social and solidarity economy can come and settle there to rent a space or an office on a daily basis or to organize activities. A strong theme is emerging around solidarity and sustainable food, disability and ecological transition”, explains Thomas Couderette, co-founder of the agency. A dozen structures have already taken up residence in the third place Soupetard which is still looking for its name. Among them the Café & Co project designed to accommodate people with disabilities, the Mixah association, which helps the socialization through sport of this same public or the designers of Inclu & Sens, at the origin of projects inclusive sensory and collaborative. Without premises until now, the 7Notre Quartier association and the MJC de Soupetard have also taken up residence on the site, as has Toulouse Métropole Emploi. The Intercalaire agency, which would benefit from around fifty structures, has just launched a call for applications on social networks to encourage other players to join the first arrivals. A café and an associative restaurant likely to host shows and concerts are also being structured. In the installation phase, the third place of Soupetard should offer its first events and workshops at the start of the school year in September, but a shared meal, open to the inhabitants of the district, is already planned for July 2 at noon to present the site and its future activities.