SP Real Estate eyes shared living space

Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate plans to start shared living and student housing projects to diversify its portfolio and capitalise on an alternative asset class targeted at millennials who rely on renting instead of owning homes, a top executive said .

The Shapoorji Pallonji group firm, which builds luxury to mid-income homes, will build the co-living projects in Pune and Mumbai Metropolitan Region starting next year.

“We will start co-living and student housing projects in a measured but serious manner as an offshoot of our projects. Over the next decade, we see a huge potential because of the demographics, increased work from home and rising spend on education, and there are not many organized players. In the mid-tolong term, it has to be rolled out as a separate business, and partnered with an investor to scale up,” Venkatesh Gopalkrishnan, chief executive officer of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, said.

The Mumbai-based company ranks among a handful of mainstream real estate developers who have ventured into the co-living space, dominated by investor-backed startups.

Earlier this year, Bengalurubased real estate firm Embassy Group launched co-living business Olive by Embassy, targeting a growing, young working population in metros. This month, it also launched its service residences brand, ‘Olive Residences’, under an asset-light management model, in which Embassy will manage the property and earn on a revenue- and profitsharing basis. Under the new brand, it plans to launch 100 buildings by the 2021-end.