Embassy Group to enter co-living business
2 min read 26 Aug 2019, 01:28 PM ISTEmbassy Group to start the new venture with 20,000 beds to be built on its existing land portfolioThe brand is planned for an official launch towards the end of 2019 with a flagship project in Bengaluru, followed by Pune
PremiumEPDPL Co-Living Pvt. Ltd, part of property developer Embassy Group, plans to build co-living facilities to cater to the growing migrant millennial workforce and students, and also offer housing options to the large workforce at its own office parks across cities, said Aditya Virwani, chief operating officer, Embassy Group.
Bengaluru-based Embassy Group will start the new venture with 20,000 beds to be built on its existing land portfolio, which it aims to grow to more than 100,000 owned and operated beds in five years.
The brand is planned for an official launch towards the end of 2019 with a flagship project in Bengaluru, followed by Pune.
The company is also in talks to acquire land in Gurugram.
“Embassy’s concept of co-living aims to lift the standard of living by offering quality hospitality services to this segment. Based on extensive research in the past year, we believe that this will also complement our core business of building office parks, where half a million people work and need good housing facilities," said Virwani. There are more than 35 million students in higher education and the migrant millennial workforce is growing at a rapid pace, offering an opportunity to cater to this increasing demand of co-living and create accommodation for them across the country, said Virwani.
Co-living still remains a largely fragmented market, but startups such as OYO, Nestaway, and CoHo are operating in the emerging space.
Traditional builders such as Puravankara Ltd are also exploring the concept due to its rising popularity and are ready to explore this segment as an extension of their existing residential business and rental income.
“Embassy Co-Living will bring in the best global co-living practices equipped with elegant design, sustainable green initiatives, high security and a remarkable experience for all our members. Our co-living spaces will be designed keeping in mind the evolving preferences and needs of our target customer base," said Kahraman Yigit, co-founder of Embassy’s co-living business, who has worked in student living and co-living firms in Turkey and has invested in the co-living venture.
He said a typical Embassy co-living facility will have 800-1,000 beds, while smaller plots will comprise about 300 beds. These will comply with global health and safety standards and have the latest amenities, entertainment, learning and development facilities.
Embassy ventured into building co-working spaces with We Co., the American firm that operates under the WeWork brand.
WeWork India posted robust revenue growth in India, Mint reported on 15 August.
WeWork India has been aggressively expanding its footprint, since it entered the market in 2016. At present, the company has 23 co-working centres, nine each in Bengaluru and Mumbai, and another five in Gurugram, comprising 39,000 seats.
