Take a drive along the A4 motorway between Luxembourg City and Esch, and you cannot miss the black cube that is GRIDX in Wickrange. At first glance, the €250m complex resembles a giant carpark. In reality, it’s a bold bet on a growing appetite for experience and passion.
I’m running late when I enter the 42,000m² site, four weeks before its September inauguration. To make matters worse, I get stuck behind a cherry picker on the ramp into the central arena. Both of us emerge into a quad enclosed by black steel, glass and concrete. The shrubs and ferns placed around the unfinished space hint at what’s to come.
Alex Giorgetti greets me like he’s welcoming me into his home. Over the next hour, the 28-year-old offers a lively tour of the complex his family began shaping back in 2012. Experiences, he says, are at its core.
“Experience is what young people want. A brand’s value lies in telling its story—its history, its founders—creating relationships rather than forced sales.”
We begin in the mobility cluster near the highway: contrôle technique, concierge services, and glass boxes where collectors display their cars. For Alex, this is personal. “When I was a kid, my parents gave me €2 a week and I’d always spend it on a model car,” he recalls. Today that passion translates into racing simulators, new-to-Luxembourg brands, and an art gallery where visitors receive headphones to hear the stories behind spotlit vehicles.
“When I look at the car, I don’t see four wheels. I see a creator who struggled to build a brand and find customers,” he says. “That story, we want to tell digitally.”
Future exhibitions will include a collaboration with MAUTO, the national automobile museum of Turin, with the first dedicated to Ayrton Senna. Beyond mobility, GRIDX offers immersive digital art from GioLabs, karaoke rooms, a health club, and a children’s playground plus a hotel school, the annexe of the EHTL in Diekirch. Many spaces are still raw concrete, but Alex smiles: “Like an advent calendar, we’ll open a new box every month.” The TASTE foodhall looks nearly ready, its striking bar destined as a meeting spot. A 1,200m² events hall, business centre, hotel, and even a post office round out the offering—an ecosystem designed to serve both locals and international visitors.
Operationally, Giorgetti runs about a fifth of the site, with the rest entrusted to hand-picked partners. “The biggest risk was finding people who share the same values. Until last year, occupancy wasn’t what we hoped,” Alex admits. “Now we’re at 90%.” The goal is for visitors to treat the space as their playground. “This building is for whatever community exists. As long as you have a passion, share it—in a physical way.”
Sustainability is built in: insulated windows, 4,000m² of rooftop photovoltaics, 80 EV chargers, and recycled ArcelorMittal steel. The family also takes the long view. “We want to keep this whole building in our portfolio. We strongly believe in this project,” Alex says.
As we walk, he greets staff and family members by name. At 28, Alex brings fresh energy to a project set to leave a lasting mark. His pitch for September’s launch? Live music with a Harley Davidson roaring through the crowd. It sounds crazy. It sounds fun. It sounds like something I’d like to see.
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