Urban Campus has partnered with CeleBreak, the easiest way to play football in Madrid if you are looking to meet new people.

We are excited to start a new partnership with the amazing football app CeleBreak.

At Urban Campus we foster meaningful connections to bring you the most value from day one. As in Urban Campus, CeleBreak also offers a community where you can connect with entrepreneurs, professionals, and freelancers who share a passion for football like you.

CeleBreak is an app that helps you find a place and a team to play football with, a really good option for everyone who wants to chill out at a football game.

Everyone is welcome, all levels of play, men’s and women’s football. Organizers take care of everything and keep the teams equal and motivated, you just turn up and play.

At Urban Campus, we have partnered with CeleBreak to offer a new energetic experience through a football-playing activity.

If you want to join the CeleBreak community, just follow the next steps to win the 2nd game for free:

• Sign up for a game via the CeleBreak App
• After you have played 1 match, send an email to (daniel@celebreak.eu). Mention that you are from Urban Campus and you will receive your bonus.

You just have to choose a game near you to start creating new experiences and connecting with football enthusiasts.

Let’s chill out at a football game!

Not an Urban Campus member yet? Discover our spaces.

• The Urban Campus team along with REI Habitat (developer) and 813 Capital (investor) won the RFP for the development and management of a 4,800m2 coliving residence. 
• Located in the heart of France’s premier university and research hub of the École Polytechnique Université Paris-Saclay and just a walking distance from the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique and other leading sciences and engineering schools. 
• The residence will offer 115 studios and a working space aimed at science and technology entrepreneurs. 
• It is planned to open at the end of 2023.

Paris, 16th December 2020

Urban Campus, together with REI Habitat (developer) and 813 Capital (investor), have won the RFP for the development and management of a 4,800 m² coliving residence located in the heart of France’s premier university and research hub of the École Polytechnique Université Paris-Saclay. The hub is a walking distance from the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique and other leading sciences and engineering schools, with more than 15% of all research jobs in France located in Paris-Saclay.  

The consortium was selected by the government’s planning authority from among 12 candidates, with the project’s exceptional environmental performance being the winning feature. The building, developed by REI Habitat, is a wood construction achieving best-in-class carbon-neutrality standards.

The residence will offer 115 studios and a working space aimed at science and technology entrepreneurs. It is planned to open at the end of 2023.

Maxime Depreux, CDO, expressed that “This project is a testimony of Urban Campus’s ability to focus on the most attractive projects and locations. We constantly innovate to create a residential offer that proposes well-designed spaces with access to services and community. We wish to thank our partner, 813 Capital, for their support and trust”.

CEO, John van Oost added “The management of residential buildings needs to be continuously optimized in order to propose affordable rents to the tenants, whilst delivering reasonable profitability to the property investors. The residences need to be conceived and managed with the highest sustainability, energy consumption, and air quality standards in mind. Dunbar, our proprietary technology is a crucial tool to achieve these objectives.” 

Urban Campus in a nutshell

Founded in 2016 by John van Oost and Maxime Armand, Urban Campus redefines the rules of residential housing in major European cities by offering co-living, co-working, and community spaces adapted to new lifestyles.

More about the news

Read the press release in French: Urban Campus to manage a Coliving residence in L’EPA Paris-Saclay choisit REI Habitat, en groupement avec Urban Campus et 813 Capital, pour un programme à haute exigence environnementale composé d’une résidence en coliving et des bureaux pour nouveaux entrepreneurs sur le Campus urbain de Paris-SaclayParis- Saclay

URBAN CAMPUS TO OPEN ITS FIRST OFFICE IN MILAN

• Urban Campus announces the opening of an office in Milan 
• The company expects to announce key recruitments in early 2021

Paris, 11 December 2020, Urban Campus, is glad to announce the opening of an office in Milan and expects to unveil key recruitments in early 2021.

Speaking about the decision to develop operations in Italy, Maxime Depreux, Urban Campus’s Chief Development Officer said “We strongly believe in the development of the build-to-rent market in Italy, both for coliving and multifamily formats. Our Italian and international institutional clients seek to optimize the financial performance of their existing residential portfolios and develop new residences that fit the market demand for contemporary living. With Urban Campus, they have an experienced and trustworthy partner to realize these objectives”.

John van Oost, Urban Campus’ CEO, added “As in many other European countries the existing residential stock in Italy is generally old and no longer corresponds to what tenants want or can afford. We see a great opportunity to change this paradigm”.

Malasaña Madrid Coliving

Urban Campus successfully manages 3 residences in the center of Madrid and is now gearing up for the rapid growth of the BTR (build-to-rent) sector in Italy and other European countries. 

The great success of Urban Campus residences in Madrid, with 95% of residents recommending the concept to their friends and 35% extending their stay, is proof of Urban Campus having all the assets in hand to consolidate its presence in the residential real estate segment.

Urban Campus has partnered with Too Good to Go, the wonderful food-saving app.

We are thrilled to start a new collaboration with the wonderful food-saving app Too Good To Go! 🌱

Our logos have almost the same colors and our values match too.

Too Good To Go connects food producers, providers, distributors, and all kinds of food stores with customers, to solve the problem of food waste, through their easy-to-use app.

The app is a great way for the public to get involved – just download, log on, and save perfectly good, surplus food from your local stores. It’s always a surprise and an instant good deed for the planet.

At Urban Campus we have partnered with them to offer our centrally located Coworkings and Colivings as pick up stations to collect Too Good to go packages.

The first pick up point is located at our Jerónimo, Madrid Coworking! 💚

The first campaign is with Embutidos Luis Gil, an organic cured meat producer from La Rioja. Their chorizo is excellent!

1. Find us on the app: #DEORIGEN – Embutidos Luis Gil – Urban Campus Carrera de San Jerónimo 17
2. Buy your charcuterie surprise pack and pick it up from our space!

Get the App: App Store / Play Store.

Let’s stand together against food waste! 💪🏽

The Giants of Coliving enter Spain

International operators such as Urban Campus, StarCity, Habyt or Dovevivo have already entered the national market and have very aggressive expansion plans for southern Europe.

The Spanish opportunity.

In Madrid, Urban Campus  has 120 beds; Habyt 110 and Homii 180. In Barcelona there is almost a thousand, with The Student Hotel being the most active operator with 595 operational beds and another 3,000 on the way – they also plan on opening in Madrid, with 340 beds, and 328 projected in Sebastián–. You’ll also find in Barcelona Starcity, with 100 beds, and Inedit, with 113. Among future developments, Homii plans to expand its portfolio in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Seville, and Malaga. DoveVivo also plans to open in the capital city and in the city of Turia.

‘Coliving’, the networking residence

One of the markets that seems to go from strength to strength during the current economic and social uncertainty is home rental, and with it, coliving. This phenomenon was born in Silicon Valley after young people faced increasing difficulty finding affordable housing at the beginning of their careers. It is defined as a community and networking space, but also one that is residential. A kind of residence for students (but without an age limit) aimed at young professionals and freelancers, offering more sophisticated common areas such as spas, gyms, swimming pools and coworkings.

“Coliving means a different way of life. A life that’s more flexible, as all services are included in the rate, with an active community. A building where all the tenants are at the same point in life and where they can share experiences ”, explains Javier Caro, director of Coliving at CBRE.

Just as coworking implies better efficiency in using office spaces in densified city centers, coliving also allows better efficient occupancy by prioritizing high residential standards, at affordable prices. Prices usually include WiFi, utility bills, furniture, cleaning services and access to gyms. “In real estate terms, it is an operating asset that combines community management of a student residence, the services of a hotel and the stability of a residential asset, as a result of affordable rents, services on demand and high occupancies ”. In Spain coliving is receiving great recognition in the build to rent sector, largely due to the fact that less than 5% of the total market offer is under professional management “and there is a lack of this kind of experience within the accommodation sector ”, adds the CBRE executive.

International operators such as Urban Campus, StarCity, Habyt or Dovevivo have already entered the national market and have very aggressive expansion plans in southern Europe.

In the specific case of Spain, for the moment it is not a regulated market (we will see if the current Government is capable of restraining itself, with regards to coliving, in its Housing Law, defined with pride as the most interventionist on renting, in Europe). For now colivings can be operated as a residential or hotel asset. The types of rooms will depend on the demand, whether it is aimed at travellers, students (usually postgraduate), or young corporate professionals. As there is no current regulation, the rental agreements can range from 1 to 11 months (while the Urban Leasing Law establishes that the tenant can be linked to the house for 5 to 7 years).

As for prices, currently on average in Madrid rooms in colivings cost around 1,100 euros per month, more or less in line with the rental of a private studio of about 30 square meters, according to CBRE estimates. This makes Madrid one of the most expensive rental capitals in Europe. As some examples: in Amsterdam, a 30-square-meter studio costs less than 1,000 euros per month; in Vienna under 800 euros and in Berlin, 750 euros. In Milan coliving is not yet regulated either and average prices range from 410 euros per month for a basic room, to 1,000 for a bigger room. In Berlin, coliving rents vary from 599 euros in a shared apartment to 1,100 in a studio, with Germany being the most mature market for investing in micro-apartments (1.9 billion euros since 2015, according to CBRE).

Read the full article The Giants of Coliving enter Spain in Spanish

Mellado Madrid Coliving, featured in “Toc toc, se puede” TeleMadrid

A new TeleMadrid TV show that focuses on different housing alternatives came to visit our Mellado Madrid Coliving, to discover how coliving works.

Óscar, one of our residents, guided them through the coliving building, showing them his studio and all common areas.

‘Coliving’, a new way of living in Madrid

A private room, a ready-built community & dozens of shared spaces? At first it might seem like what you get with a hotel, but it is far from that. Here the people who rent their little corner of privacy are part of a community or ‘family’ who share common areas and even fridges. It’s called ‘coliving’, and it’s not just a new way of living, but a whole philosophy of life.

Óscar and his girlfriend Lidia met at the Mellado Madrid Coliving, after both deciding to try out this new lifestyle, and they now share a larger studio together.

The ‘coliving’ is a new housing rental offer that strongly appeals to young professionals aged 26 and older, who do not mind sharing a kitchen and television with other tenants. They have their own private place in the form of a studio with an en-suite bathroom, and the rest of the building holds different common areas that encourages everyone to coexist harmoniously. Organization, respect and tolerance are necessary. 

Speaking to TeleMadrid, Ósacar explains that “We’ve not really had problems when it comes to watching TV. There are many common spaces available and it is just a matter of organizing amongst ourselves and reaching an agreement”. To avoid conflicts in the kitchen, which is shared between four studios, each drawer and shelf is assigned to a tenant. “If someone likes coffee and brings a coffee machine, it is shared with whoever needs it, if the owner agrees of course.” Continues Óscar. Although cleaning is included in the rent, next to the dining room table we find a large blackboard displaying different tasks and those assigned to each one (water the plants, cleaning the common spaces etc.). 

A ‘new age’ community

Óscar is from Barcelona, but had been living outside of Spain. When he arrived in Madrid he wanted to try this new lifestyle and described his first sentiments as those of surprise.

The ‘coliving‘ provides accommodation with a private bathroom. The rest of the house is shared. It costs between 750 and 1,200 euros per month, including utilities, wifi, maintenance, cleaning and a fully equipped kitchen. Residents all have access to a gym, fitness studio, a movies room and three terraces, one of which has an urban garden, with the main common space offering a large table where the whole community can come together. The building is located in Chamberí and has 74 studios in total, some of them doubles. “This is a way of life. If you want to interact with others, you can, but if you don’t, just don’t go to the common areas as often.” So far though, it seems that everyone has hit it off very well. “Every two weeks we hold a community meeting to talk about any issues we’re having, and follow it up with a delicious community dinner “.

Advantages and disadvantages of ‘coliving’

Advantages of ‘coliving’

• Everything is included in the rent (utilities, cleaning, maintenance, Wifi & even Netflix)
• You just need to bring your clothes, the rest is provided by Urban Campus.
• Complete cleaning in common areas every week and in private areas every month.
• Opportunity to meet new people.
• The gym is included in the price.

Disadvantages of ‘coliving’

• Loss of some privacy by sharing so many common areas.
• Possibility of disputes derived from living with so many people.

The building has about 300 square meters of common areas. The tenants are between 26 and 40 years old and are professionals. The ‘coliving’  does not admit students. Residents can bring guests but they cannot stay more than seven nights in a row.

Urban Campus set to expand in Madrid with 300 new beds in 2021

The French Coliving operator plans to open up three spaces in the Spanish capital within the next year and establish themselves in cities such as Valencia and Málaga.

EjePrime spoke to the CEO of the company, John Van Oost, about Urban Campus’s plans to expand in Madrid. The company will open up three new spaces next year, adding 300 beds to its Madrid portfolio.

Urban Campus seeks to settle in secondary cities such as Valencia or Malaga

In addition to expanding its presence in Madrid, where it already has two coliving spaces, the company plans to expand throughout Spain, and open up two new coliving spaces in Valencia and Malaga next year. 

The French company has an expansion plan to develop coliving spaces in Spain that will add around 2,000 beds to its portfolio. The CEO has ensured that they have institutional investors who are showing significant interest in the Spanish market. 

Before the outbreak of the pandemic in March, the two centers in Madrid registered an occupancy of 98.5%, but in June only 50% of the units were occupied. “Many of our tenants were from Latin America, the United States, Canada, or other European Union states. A lot of them returned home during the first wave,” explains the CEO.

Currently, the occupancy of its spaces is 98.5%

During the summer the occupancy reached 60%. By September, occupancy was again at nearly full capacity, with 98% of units rented. “During confinement, we organized many activities through social media networks“ Van Oost continued, who himself passed the first wave in one of the centers in Madrid. 

The company also incorporates co-working spaces within its coliving centers, “we already believed it was necessary before, but Covid-19 has shown the need to have a functional workspace at home” adds the CEO. 

Currently, the company has two flexible coworking spaces in Madrid. Urban Campus is committed to including these types of spaces in future coliving projects that are large enough to accommodate a dedicated coworking space. However, for the moment, it does not foresee opening new, and exclusively, coworking spaces in Spain.

You can find the original article “Urban Campus set to expand in Madrid with 300 new beds in 2021” in Spanish, here.

Urban Campus leading Coliving in Spain

Madrid is the European city with the fewest operative beds in coliving spaces behind London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, and Vienna, according to the study “Europe Co-Living: Key Trends and Key” by CBRE.

Urban Campus is the company with more operative beds and we intend to manage more than 2,500 residential units in the region by 2023 on behalf of leading institutional investors.

Companies, such as The Student Hotel, DoveVivo S.p.A., and Homiii, are other players, in this sector in Spain, regardless of the obstacles found in the Spanish country, according to Ejeprime.

Read the Full article “Urban Campus is leading the Coliving sector in Spain, according to CBRE and Ejeprime” here

Our Head of Operations – Iberia Ana Martínez de Lizarrondo Asurmendi participated in the Webinar “The day after: Working spaces of the future” organized by PayFit España, in the context of “The day after” sessions.

Together with Sergi Tarragona Fenosa and Eleonora Cantini, she discussed how the working and living spaces of the future will look like, and answered the following questions:

• Do you think that the lockdown we have experienced is causing long-lasting changes in the way companies need workspaces?
• What value proposition have you launched to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in this new context?
• How do you envision the future of working and living spaces in a couple of years?

Interested? Watch the full 45mn webinar here.

• Urban Campus is glad to announce the appointment of Ana Martinez de Lizarrondo as Head of Operations for Iberia. 
• Urban Campus already manages 3 residences in the center of Madrid and is now gearing up for the rapid growth of the BTR (built-to-rent) sector in Spain and Portugal. 
• Urban Campus intends to manage more than 2,500 residential units in the region by 2023 on behalf of leading institutional investors with its unique coliving format – which mostly addresses singles and couples without children -, and a more traditional “multi-family” format.

Paris, 28th September 2020, the European startup, Urban Campus, is glad to announce the appointment of Ana Martinez de Lizarrondo as Head of Operations for Iberia. 

Urban Campus already manages 3 residences in Madrid’s city center and is now gearing up for the rapid growth of the BTR (built-to-rent) sector in Spain and Portugal.

After proving the success of handling the operation of more than 6000sqm distributed around Madrid, our former Operations Manager Ana Martinez de Lizarrondo, has been appointed “Head of Operations – Iberia”, to focus on scaling up the proven model and guide our operations team in the upcoming new openings of Urban Campus.

“I’m very excited about what is coming next at Urban Campus, and to have the opportunity to lead the Spain and Portugal team through our new openings. We have learned a lot in the past 4 years as the first coliving operator in Spain, and it is time to scale up and keep transforming the residential market. I am honored to be part of this successful and experienced team!” says Ana. 

Urban Campus intends to manage more than 2,500 residential units in the region by 2023 on behalf of leading institutional investors with its unique coliving format – which mostly addresses singles and couples without children -, and a more traditional “multi-family” format. 

Urban Campus residences, whose surface varies between 4,000m² and 8,000 m², are designed based on the findings gathered through economic and sociological studies and observations.

The Urban Campus model is based on new residential needs clearly identified in urban areas:

• A true community identity within the residence, that makes residents feel at home and make connections
• Plug & Play and accessible space design 
• Technology that supports our operation needs

The great success of Urban Campus residences in Madrid, with 95% of residents recommending the concept to their friends and 35% extending their stay, is proof about Urban Campus having all the assets in hand to consolidate its presence in the residential real estate segment.

John van Oost, Urban Campus’ CEO said “Ana is a co-founder of Urban Campus and a true entrepreneur. She was instrumental in building an impressive team in Madrid and to deliver strong operational and financial performance for the residences we developed and are managing. She is the right person to lead our ambitious growth in the Iberian region”.