GCAi-LA’s New Co-working Space Comes with Coffee and a Porsche 911

SPRINGFIELD — At the time, it would have been hard to imagine a more elegant place for James Garvey to knock out digital marketing campaigns. WeWork and GCAi’s co-working space at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif. brought together an eclectic group of startups, most of which skewed toward the fashion-tech industry. On any given morning, you had the space to yourself, and during the day, you might run into celebrities like Kris Jenner in the lobby.

“Then came that thing we all went through over 2020-plus,” Garvey said. “As if it has suffered the impact of a California earthquake, and helped certainly by its other mega-financial failings, WeWork’s Pacific Design Center space showed some fractures. Communication broke down, free coffee became sporadic, and positive tests by tenants went up.” And, like virtually every other tech office in the world, Garvey and GCAi-LA went home.

Enter the Motoring Club in Marina Del Ray, Calif., which GCAi moved to recently. Owned and managed by Michael Rapetti, the Motoring Club is a collector vehicle storage space with unique social-club space for conversation, collaboration, or just inspired work, “if a vintage motorcycle parked next to your table does that kind of thing for you,” Garvey said.

“Indeed, the closest thing to a cubicle is Michael’s ultra-boxy 1995 Range Rover Classic. Michael is probably the most driven car nerd on the planet. His hands-on approach to the club was evident with his communication efforts during the thing. On behalf of club members, Michael leveraged all the tools at his disposal, especially social/tech like Instagram, to keep members informed. If you didn’t feel like checking your e-mail for Michael’s weekly updates, you could just watch the Motoring Club’s Instagram story (@themotoringclub) and get up to speed in a matter of seconds.”

The Motoring Club is located in Marina Del Rey, an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles, Garvey said. “Here is the ultimate ‘my office is better than your office’ comparison: should you need to stimulate your thinking with an out-of-office experience, you can rent a Porsche 911 from the Motoring Club for less than your monthly Starbucks tab, zip up PCH to Carbon Beach in Malibu, and do your work from there for a change. Or maybe skip the work part and stick with the experience part.”