OK Diario has named Urban Campus as one of the Coliving Key Players in Spain. Read the whole article in Spanish here, or keep reading the translation in English below.

Urban Campus, Inédit and Projects share the ‘coliving’ market in Madrid and Barcelona

2020 will be a year of growth for ‘coliving’, a type of accommodation that consists of renting a private area (studio) in a property that also enables access to shared spaces and additional services.

Although the current offer is still very small in Spain, experts predict that ‘coliving’ will soon become the future of the real estate sector. Coliving will grow thanks to the high profitability offered to the owner – between 15% and 20% – and demographic trends.

The three companies that dominate this market in Madrid and Barcelona are Urban Campus, Inédit and Projets.

The French company Urban Campus was one of the first to land in the Spanish market. It has 120 single beds spread over two buildings in Madrid. They also design and operate two coworking spaces and a Foodlab (coworking space for gastronomic entrepreneurship with professional kitchen) in Spain’s capital.

The other big market operator is Inèdit, with 21 flats in Barcelona, ​​a total of 113 rooms. (113 individual places). The Spanish company expects that in 2021 80% of companies dedicated to the sector will have an average of 250 beds. It also predicts that these types of properties will grow up to 40% by the middle of next year. Why is coliving becoming so popular? According to Inèdit, it’s due to the high profitability that it offers to investors and due to the increase of young professionals that move to Spain’s biggest cities every year.

Coliving spaces are mainly aimed at young professionals who want to live in a community, share experiences and who, generally, look to stay for periods that do not exceed 12 months. The average price of this type of accommodation is 900 euros per month.

Projets is one of the best-known operators in Europe. They operate in cities where the concept of ‘coliving’ is already well established, like Amsterdam or London. The German company has been operating in Madrid since April 2019 and has 25 rooms located in the district of Tetuan. The company expects to add 1,000 new homes throughout the world in 2020.

Lack of solid legal framework

However one of the problems faced by this new business model, that’s affecting its development rate, is legislation. There is no specific coliving planning regulation: «Hotel or tourist apartment regulations do not adapt to this product. The absence of a solid legal framework causes a delay in its development, despite the enormous interest that has aroused both among users and investors” according to real estate consultant Savills Newman. The consultant believes that the new business model will also be another attraction factor to capture and retain talent in the labor market.

Urban Campus at the “Real Estate Future Trends 2020: We are the Key” Conference

Last Thursday, January 23, Urban Campus was present as a partner and speaker at the latest edition of “Smart Conversations”, which took place at the Official College of Architects of Madrid, an event that has been organised since 2006 by the 3G Smart Group.

“Real Estate Future Trends 2020: We are the key” was an informative and non-profit conference with the aim of analyzing the latest trends in the transformation of residential, retail and education spaces.

This initiative was created with the need to align big companies, corporations, and leaders of the technological transformation. During the day different round tables took place to discuss the difficulties faced by the big players in each field. The objective was to jointly build a path to solve the problems identified.

Participating in a round table about alternative residential models, was Urban Campus’s Operations Manager, Ana Martinez de Lizarrondo. Thanks to Urban Campus’s pioneer experience in operating 2 coliving residences in Madrid, Ana was able to share her experience, helping to provide a different point of view, to help solve some of the issues that concern the professionals of the sector.

Here is a snippet of her appearance, where Ana answers some questions about our spaces, how they impact the neighborhoods they are located in, how accessible coliving is …

Elix VRS signs an agreement with Urban Campus

Eje Prime has written about ELIX VRS’s acquisition of 2 coliving residences managed by Urban Campus.

This acquisition demonstrates the attractiveness of Urban Campus to institutional investors, which is a pillar of our development in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.

You can read the whole article in Spanish here or keep reading in English.

Elix VRS joins forces with Urban Campus to enter the ‘coliving’ market.

The latest acquisitions made by the SIIC in Madrid, who is managed by the investment funds KKR and Altamar, will be operated by Urban Campus, a company specialising in the management of shared residential spaces.

Both companies will collaborate on the management of two properties purchased by the SIIC. The first, announced on January 9, includes two buildings located around Plaza de España in the capital, which Elix VRS acquired for 5.6 million euros and 5.2 million euros respectively. Both properties have undergone an extensive refurbishment, and have a common area of ​​3,184 square meters, in addition to commercial and parking spaces. The operation was financed with the company’s own resources, according to a statement sent to the Alternative Stock Market (MAB).

“Urban Campus was already operating the properties purchased by the SIIC.”

On January 16, the SIIC announced the purchase of another property for 12.4 million euros. The asset is located on Mellado Street, and was the first coliving residential center opened and operated by Urban Campus, in Spain. The building has a built area of ​​3,360 square meters and its acquisition was financed through the company’s own funds and a loan, with a real estate guarantee of 7.4 million euros. It also has four commercial premises. So far Urban Campus has 110 beds available in two coliving spaces which in total comprehend more than 5,000 square meters. In addition, it also operates two coworking spaces and a foodlab in the Spanish capital.

“Urban Campus expects to invest up to 200 million euros in the Spanish market by 2025.”

As previously shared by Eje Prime, the French company plans to operate investments between 150 million and 200 million euros in the next five years. The company plans to open ten new centers in the main cities of Spain that would add some 2,000 beds.

Movistar plus about new ways of living

Iñaki Gabilondo, the well known Spanish reporter returns to Movistar plus # 0 with the fifth season of “When I am gone”. A very interesting TV show that asks the question, what will the world look like in 25 years?

In this season, in addition to interviewing great national and international experts, he will encourage debates through anonymous questions posed by the public.

In 2050 it is estimated that 10,000 million inhabitants live in the world, this will affect architecture, it will only be necessary to build four times more than what is built. To better understand the contrast between the world that arrives and the one that is destroyed, in this chapter we will turn our gaze to a group of anonymous people who are dedicated to looking for new models of Coexistence, other types of neighborhood ties or spaces to share professional experiences.

On this episode, Iñaki visits Urban Campus Malasaña Coliving to discuss new ways of living, and interviews one of our residents Teresa, as part of a round table with some other game-changers and entrepreneurs.

We are really happy to have hosted Movistar Plus and their innovative show, and to keep contributing to changing the way people live in cities!