The Nashville Entrepreneur Center will move from the virtual world into physical office space next week with the signing of a downtown lease.

The young nonprofit organization yesterday inked a deal for 7,500 square feet on the second floor of 105 Broadway, said NEC President and CEO Michael Burcham. The space will house a handful of NEC staff and student workers and provide about 20 incubator spaces for startup companies seeking business assistance from the center.

"We’ll have modular, rolling cube workspace so we can cluster a couple people together and make it as mobile and user-friendly as possible," Burcham said. "They can rent it by the day, or they can move in and work here every day for three to six months."

Eventually, the NEC will move into building one of the six-building trolley barn cluster at the base of Rolling Mill Hill, where Burcham said the NEC has secured a long-term, rent-free lease through the city. The NEC is working to raise the $2.4 million to $2.6 million necessary to renovate the 21,000-square-foot building, which will provide office and meeting space, as well as enough incubator space for 75 people. The NEC will also be responsible for covering monthly operating costs.

The 1920s development, owned by Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency and being renovated by the Mathews Co., should be ready for the NEC in a year to 18 months, Burcham said. However, the MDHA's board of directors must give final approval to the NEC's capital plan, once it's completed, before the deal is final.

In March, local technology firm Emma Inc. announced a two-building trolley barn lease, and Burcham said he'd like to see similar organizations move into the development.

"What I'm hoping is we'll create an entrepreneurial campus up there for innovations," Burcham said.