Dating back to 1943, the Conde Luiz Eduardo Matarazzo building played a significant role in São Paulo's business world. Located in the historic center of the city, the property will host a new Regus unit, a brand offering flexible workspaces and coworking, owned by the British IWG group.

Its imposing golden doors that face Quinze de Novembro Street evoke the business past of the 1940s, but starting in 2024, they will house new models of work for various 21st-century companies. This will be the first Regus location in the city center of São Paulo.

Between the 1990s and 2010, the building underwent some internal and external renovations, and a portion of the building is listed as a historical landmark. Therefore, the company is taking great care to bring more technology to downtown São Paulo while preserving its historical aspects.

"It's a well-maintained building, and despite its old architecture, it is highly functional for workspaces. So, we will preserve the listed part and the history of the asset in a way that people can connect with the property's past. We will incorporate modern features into functional workspaces so that small, medium, and large companies can accommodate their staff, using coworking spaces, meeting rooms, and more", says Tiago Alves, CEO of IWG in Brazil.

The Conde Luiz Eduardo Matarazzo property is part of the urban development project undertaken by the São Paulo City Hall. The creation of the Intersecretarial Committee, known as #TodosPeloCentro, aims to coordinate various municipal actions for the requalification and valorization of the central region. The initiative's strategies are developed based on six priority axes that are interconnected: Investment Attraction, Urban Requalification and Mobility, Housing, Security, Social, and Environment, Leisure, and Culture.

Currently, the space is undergoing renovations and adaptations, with the expectation that it will last between 3 and 4 months. Regus is expected to be ready for use by the end of the second half of 2024.

As a flexible workspace, Regus does not have a specific target audience. Alves defines that the environment was created "for any and all types of companies that need workspace." However, due to its proximity to B3, the São Paulo Stock Exchange, and the seat of the São Paulo state government, it is expected that the building will attract companies focused on economic, legal and media-related activities. The asset is close to subway stations and important tourist spots in the capital, such as Pateo do Collegio, Sé Cathedral, and others.

"The center of São Paulo ends up being a strategic point. So, if I could list some niches, talking about offices, I would say it should attract financial companies connected to the Stock Exchange, law firms, and the general press. For coworking, there is no specific niche because any type of company can benefit. This space can be an outpost for a company, for example, that instead of sending an employee from the south to the east or north, can allocate them in the center", he explains.

In addition to its historical appeal, the property has a sentimental aspect for the CEO of the group in Brazil. As a child, Alves would visit the property with his father. He says this memory was "forgotten" in his mind, and upon entering the property, decades later, a flood of emotions, memories, and sensations came rushing back.

"I'm from Minas Gerais, I came to São Paulo when I was 11, and my father worked at Banco Safra. I would visit him at work on Children's Day. So, when we visited the building and I saw the golden door, I immediately remembered my childhood and my father. And how cool it is to be able to return 40 years later to this place and put a Regus in a building that was part of my childhood", he says.