The precursors of 'coworking' continue to grow in Gran Via Business Center

The flexible workspace Gran Via Meeting and Business Center has its seed in Olympic Barcelona, which had not yet heard of the now widespread coworking. It was in 1992 when a team led by Beatriz Portillo opened a virtual office in Rambla Catalunya, and five years later took its first step into number 630 of Gran Via, with a space on its fourth floor.

In these 30 years, the center has expanded throughout the building, located next to Passeig de Gràcia. Now, it has achieved the goal it set years ago: to occupy 100% of the property. To do this, it has acquired the last floor it needed to manage, and has renovated it to convert it into spaces for prime offices, with an investment of 500,000 euros. The 450 square meters of the floor are added to the center's surface area, which reaches 3,200 square meters, distributed over six floors.

After the incorporation of this floor, located on the third floor, the company foresees a 15% increase in turnover for this year. The center, which in the last two years has registered increases of around 30%, expects to close this fiscal year with a turnover of 1.7 million euros. "Looking ahead to 2025, we hope to reach our goal of two million euros," highlights Portillo, now managing partner of Gran Via Meeting and Business Center, managed by a team made up entirely of women. Along with her sister and a third partner, Portillo was the driving force behind the project 30 years ago, after being inspired by a documentary about the United States that discussed flexible and virtual offices.

The work center operates with an occupancy "continuously almost full" of between 90% and 95%, and with little rotation. The building currently houses 47 offices of various sizes, ranging from SMEs to large international companies in multiple fields, such as technology, pharmaceuticals, finance, and marketing. "The largest team we have now consists of 70 people," Portillo emphasizes. With a capacity of about 320 desks, eight meeting rooms, a business club as a canteen, and also a silent room to concentrate without noise or conversations, the center works to be a reference boutique workspace in Barcelona.

The center offers differential services, such as an apartment on Paseo de Gràcia for its clients and its clients' clients, and generates spaces and events for its community to interact. In addition, "a great advantage is that the management manages the building from the building itself: we offer an absolutely personalized service with immediate attention," claims Portillo.

Now that they have managed to operate in the entire building, the company prioritizes investing in the property to continue promoting improvements. "If we want to be in line with what the market demands, we have to be up to date and listen to what companies are looking for. We promote continuous and constant investments," highlights Portillo.

And the competition is not small, in a Barcelona where coworking is booming and where 3% of office stock is already conceived as flexible workspaces. The situation is far from what it was in the city when the center began operating in 1997, as Portillo highlights, who sees the level of competition and the role of other companies positively.

"We appreciate our competition expanding, because it makes the concept known and extends it. Where before you had to battle to explain what you offered, now the model is understood and known," assures the director. From this perspective, competitors also become collaborators. "We meet periodically and address joint problems," also from the ProWorkSpaces association, of which Portillo is a board member.

In this context, the center will continue to invest to improve its facilities and services. After having achieved the goal of managing the entire building, the company continues to look within the property, but is beginning to cast an eye further afield. Without defined objectives or calendars for now, the company does not rule out expanding in the future to new locations, even in other cities: "In the short term it will not happen, but it is a door that is not closed, without diverting focus from Gran Via 630."