Co-working is catching up as a preferred asset class for several leading developers and investors. As per a recent CBRE’s India Flexible Space Quarterly Digest Q1 2019 report, flexible working space saw a 277% jump in leasing to nearly 3 million sqft in the first quarter of calendar 2019.
Talking Q-O-Q, the increase has been a massive 70 percent. Clearly, co-working segment is having a breakout moment in India.
“Given that the Indian flexible space market is one of the biggest across the Asia Pacific region, we anticipate that this segment will remain high on the investor radar as well,” Live Mint quoted Anshuman Magazine, chairman and chief executive officer, CBRE, as saying.
Magazine also declared that the leasing quantum of this segment is expected to rise to about 10 million sq. ft. by 2020 from about 7.1 million sq. ft. in 2018.
Not only the quantity, but even the size of leasing has also increased significantly with several co-working operators shifting focus to medium-to-large-sized spaces of as much as 1 lakh sqft. Interestingly, it is Delhi-NCR and Bangalore that are accounting for more than half of leasing happening in the whole country in the segment during January-March this year, as per India Flexible Space Quarterly Digest Q1 2019.
Apart from the surge in the activity, the first quarter of 2019 is significant in other terms as well. The period saw some of the big names in the industry, including Ascendas Singbridge, Brigade Ltd, and OYO entering the co-working office space market.
In fact, it was during Q1 2019 that OYO signed one of the biggest deals in the co-working segment when it bought out Innov8 for Rs. 220 crore. While two leading players also launched their own flexible space brands – Ascendas-Singbridge with The Bridge and Brigade with BuzzWorks, Hyderabad-based developer Meenakshi Group’s investment in iKeva to support expansion plans of the co-working startup.
Click here for the complete report.