CoWrks takes on lease office space from Puravankara, Bharti Realty to expand co-working biz

Leading co-working operator CoWrks has taken on lease 2.1 lakh sq ft office space from Puravankara Ltd and Bharti Realty in Bengaluru and Gurugram as part of its plan to expand business four times to reach 65,000 seats by 2020, a top company official said.

CoWrks, which was founded by Bengaluru-based Menda family that owns realty firm RMZ group, will have 14 centres operational this month across five major cities comprising 15,000 seats in about 1.5 million sq ft area.

Its founder and CEO Sidharth Menda said the target is to reach 23 co-working centres, comprising 2.5 million sq ft space and 25,000 seats, by March next year. By 2020, it will have 60-80 centres having 65,000 seats spread over 6 million sq ft.

 

"We are expanding rapidly as there is a huge demand for co-working space in India not only from startups but also large corporates," company's founder and CEO Sidharth Menda told PTI.

He said the company has taken on lease 70,000 sq ft office space, located at Aerocity in the national capital, from Bharti Realty and another 1.4 lakh sq ft from Puravankara in Bengaluru.

Besides Bengaluru and NCR, the company has centres in Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad. It plans to open facility in Pune as well.

"As a relatively young venture, we already have achieved a phenomenal 250 per cent growth in less than two years," Menda said, adding that its centres are profitable.

On the shared office space market, he said traditional offices are undergoing a paradigm shift and companies are focusing on building communities, thereby making co-working spaces a preferred option.

"There is a burgeoning demand for co-working space from freelancers, entrepreneurs, SMEs and large enterprises who are constantly looking for workspaces that provide premium amenities, networking opportunities for business growth and helps them stay connected to their clients across the country.

"The industry is expected to grow at 40-50 per cent this year and co-working spaces are booming across the country," he added.

CoWrks competes with Regus, WeWork, Awfis, Smartworks and Skootr among others.

In June, Knight Frank India came out with a report that about 200 co-working players exist in the market running an estimated 400 shared workspaces across the country.