Built in 1871 as a commercial building including a hotel,[1] it forms the south side of the central Plaza de Armas.

[2][3] The Portal Fernández Concha is a seven-storey Neoclassical building with an arcaded ground floor housing shops and restaurants.

[4][5][Note 1] In its original form, the Portal Fernández Concha had three storeys in addition to extensive underground vaults.

[8][11] Starting in the 1940s, the upper floors were subdivided into both residential and commercial spaces, and the building acquired a reputation first for Bohemianism and later for illegal enterprises.

[9][12][1] In 2023 the National Congress passed a motion calling for the expropriation of the Portal Fernández Concha as a public nuisance.