July 20th, 2023

• Casilda Mulliez & Urbanitae discuss the growth of coliving while she reflects on Urban Campus’ recent expansion and future plans.

The interview discusses the growing popularity of coliving as a housing trend in Spain. Coliving involves residents sharing common spaces and living in a community, providing an alternative to traditional residential rentals. Urban Campus is dedicated to creating and managing coliving buildings, emerging in 2016 to address the changing needs of younger generations who prioritize digital services and community living.

Urban Campus in Valencia

Urban Campus manages several coliving buildings in European cities, including Lille, France and multiple locations in Madrid. The company recently launched its first greenfield coliving building in Valencia, Spain with support from White Investing and Batipart. This building features 41 studios with shared amenities such as a gym, coworking spaces, and a rooftop terrace. The coliving model is targeted at young professionals, and Urban Campus offers a variety of inclusive services, creating a comfortable and welcoming community for long-term stays.

The Concept of Coliving

The coliving concept aims to add value to rental housing by offering fully furnished, turnkey solutions with quality standards and shared spaces. For investors, coliving provides a stable return similar to residential assets, but with an additional market premium that makes it appealing. The coliving market is still relatively new in Spain and Europe, with various players and different concepts being explored.

Urban Campus plans to expand its presence in Spain by considering projects in Barcelona and Malaga, while also exploring opportunities in other cities like Palma de Mallorca and Bilbao. The profile of colivers is typically young professionals between the ages of 25 and 40, both Spanish and international, who prefer the coliving option for its community-focused living experience.

Overall, coliving it is still a relatively small market compared to traditional residential rentals in Spain and Europe. However, it is seen as a positive development in the real estate industry, offering an improved rental experience and attracting investors due to its stable returns and market appeal. 

Read the full interview here.

On Saturday, July 8th 2023, À Punt Media featured the opening of our new coliving building in Ayora, Valencia. Community Manager Paz Lucero guided the crew through the building’s brand new common areas, which include a lounge, kitchen, gym, coworking space and rooftop terrace.

They also toured our different private studio options, exploring the amenities that come in our cozy, standard and premium studios. Our newly inaugurated colivers explained why they were drawn to Urban Campus and what they think about the coliving experience. As the first greenfield coliving project in the whole Valencian Community, we were thrilled to showcase our Ayora building and provide more insight on Urban Campus’ mission.

• The new project will be located on Guillem de Anglesola street, with 41 individual units.
• The building has the BREEAM “Very Good” sustainable construction certification.

Madrid, July 6, 2023

Urban Campus Ayora, Valencia Coliving is opening its doors! This Friday, July 7, the first greenfield coliving in the city of Valencia will be operational and begin welcoming new tenants. The project was developed by the Valencian firm White Investing with additional support from by Batipart, one of the leading real estate investors in Europe. Urban Campus participated in the design and conceptualization of the building interior, and is in charge of managing it.

After 18 months of construction, the building is opening with 100% of the 41 individual units reserved. The building is located at 16 Guillem de Anglesola Street and has more than 200 m2 of common space including a gym, lounge, a rooftop terrace and coworking area.

Ayora Coliving is also BREEAM “Very Good” certified. The building was conceived with the aim of being the first environmentally sustainable new-build coliving in the Valencian Community. The BREEAM certification process is rigorous and consists of several steps. After an initial assessment, a building is evaluated in specific categories to determine an overall score for sustainability. The benchmarks of the BREEAM certification focus on the reduction of water consumption and improvement of building operational efficiency.

The opening of the Ayora coliving space strengthens Urban Campus’ leadership in Spain. Urban Campus continues to grow its residential coliving model in the Spanish market, with presence in the country’s main cities. In line with their market strategy, the new building is located in one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Valencia, where the stunning Ayora Palace stands out with its modernist design.

Casilda Mulliez, head of Real Estate and Business Development at Urban Campus, shared, “We are especially excited about this project because it is our first new-build coliving that we are launching. We have worked with the developer from the beginning in the design of the building and thus created housing perfectly suited to young professionals. We are delighted to inaugurate a coliving in Valencia, one of the largest cities in Spain with one of the best qualities of life, and in one of the most upgraded neighborhoods. We thank both Batipart and White Investing for trusting our management to develop Urban Campus Ayora”.

Madrid, June 6, 2023.

Happier, more active, and with lower stress levels. This is the conclusion of the latest impact report presented by Urban Campus on its tenants, after doubling the number of buildings it operates in a year and consequently doubling the number of colivers in its community.

The combination of convenience and social commitment has shown that 57% of Urban Campus residents lead a healthier lifestyle since living in Urban Campus, with 54% of them believing that their stress levels have decreased and 52% feeling that their mental health has improved.

Urban Campus, the leading operator of complete coliving buildings, has presented its new Coliving Impact Report at its Malasaña space in Madrid. It is a comprehensive analysis of the impact of coliving aimed at sharing knowledge and showcasing the impact of coliving on its tenants and the neighborhoods where they are located. It draws conclusions about this residential model based on a survey conducted among all its residents.

As Urban Campus has grown in size, it has perceived the impact on its operations and the satisfaction of its colivers. After stabilizing its operations, it has gained a clearer understanding of how to standardize its processes and maintain consistency as expansion continues.

The opening of new buildings has increased the proportion of private units (studios and apartments), resulting in a slight change in the target customer compared to previous reports. This past year, the target, based on 35 different nationalities, remains a single profile (73%) without children (100%), although the average age has increased to 35 years.

The study reveals that the main reason people choose to live on an Urban Campus is to have access to an international community of like-minded individuals compared to other residential options. The convenience of paying for services (Wi-Fi, electricity, and maintenance) in a single bill, as well as the flexibility of stays (from three months onwards) compared to other models, also contribute to this choice.

After moving in, Urban Campus tenants confirm that the community created in the buildings is a space to connect and develop a sense of belonging. Thus, 73% of the surveyed individuals claim to have more social interactions, and 65% feel less lonely. Similarly, 68% participate in one or two events per week. All of this translates into more than half of the tenants (60.4%) feeling at home in less than a month.

Building a thriving community

Believing in the importance of social well-being, Urban Campus has developed new strategies to empower tenants and allow them to build their best experiences. In line with this, they launched a members’ app, enabling tenants to connect and organize events with greater autonomy. To date, 92% of tenants have downloaded the app, with an average of 49 sessions per quarter per user.

Furthermore, to foster a sense of belonging and engage with the neighborhoods, Urban Campus has initiated collaborations with NGOs such as Fundación Ocean Born and formed alliances with local businesses (Al Son de Cuba, Coppelia, Prana Yoga, and Spoiler Bar).

Comfort is an absolute priority for Urban Campus tenants, regardless of the number of buildings managed. The effort lies in offering an exceptional living experience that combines comfort with a vibrant social community, where residents can participate in events and clubs that promote a healthier lifestyle.

Coliving as a long-term solution

While the professional situation of its tenants is quite similar to previous years (with 73.5% being workers, 20.8% combining studies and work, and 5.7% being students only), the recent openings have attracted new tenants that have affected the average duration of their stays. These tenants feel more comfortable and familiar with their environment, leading them to take active community roles. These roles can include initiating conversations with new residents, participating in events, and organizing activities.

On the other hand, the average length of stay used to be around 12 months, although, with the opening of new centers and consequently new contracts, the average has decreased to 11 months. However, tenants who stay in Urban Campus colivings in the long term usually feel more comfortable and familiar with their environment, leading them to take active roles in the community.

A solid and creative community

By gathering these valuable opinions, Urban Campus can study sector trends and improve its community’s experience. The feedback collected from this latest report has received a score of 8 out of 10.

As staunch advocates that the growth of Urban Campus does not solely consist of expanding the business, the company is committed to ensuring tenant satisfaction and constantly seeking ways to improve their experience. It also encourages all residents to participate in creating a solid and creative community.