Smartworks inks largest coworking deal in Pune with 0.5m sqft

In the largest deal in the shared office space in the country, the Noida-based Smartworks Coworking has leased out a 5-lakh sqft-area from the upcoming commercial project Amar Pristine Eighty-Three (AP83) in Pune. This is the fifth facility for the company in Pune and will be operational by 2021, the company said. It already has a portfolio of 6,000 seats in the city.

According to reports, the second largest single- location deal in this space was struck by WeWorks which picked up 1.22 lakh sqft space in Pune. According to the JLL estimate, around 330 flexible workspace operators are present in the top seven cities now.

The average size of transactions in the co-working segment has increased from 37,000 sqft in 2017 to 52,000 sqft in 2018 and further to 97,000 sqft in the first half of 2019. Smartworks, which recently raised USD 25 million from the Singapore-based Keppel Land, operates in nine cities, offering about 43,000 workstations spread over 2.3 million sqft of space.

"AP83 is the largest deal in terms of the area signed by any co-working space provider. We have picked up nearly 60 percent of the space that is being jointly developed by Amar Builders and Pristine Properties at Koregaon Park in Pune," Smartworks founder Neetish Sarda told PTI on Tuesday. This is Smartworks' second tie-up with Amar Builders after the 1.5 lakh sqft facility at Baner in Pune.

Sarda said with the deepening slowdown in the real estate sector, commercial property developers are exploring various opportunities, including partnering with coworking space operators. "We have adopted a lease model, where we take up the space on lease and re-lease it to other customers. Our target is to have 4 million sqft space by March 2020," Sarda said.

Commenting on this partnership, Amar Builders executive director Hrishikesh Manjrekar said, "the coworking segment has gained momentum of late. Through this partnership, we plan to cater to the growing demand for curated coworking spaces in the city from enterprises and start-ups." 

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