Co-working spaces to triple in three years: Report

As co-working spaces continue to come up in the country, annual transaction numbers in this segment is likely to triple from current levels over the next 3 years, a recent report said.

According to a report by property consultant Knight Frank, co-working companies took up 2 million sq ft space in the first quarter of 2018 itself, which has exceeded the annual tally of 2017 at 1.8 million sqft.

"The expansion plans of major players and the increasing appetite for this format from occupiers, property owners and co-working operators should see annual transaction numbers triple from current levels over the next 3 years," Knight Frank India chief economist and national director - research Samantak Das said in a statement issued here.

Currently, NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru house most of the co-working stock in India followed by Pune and Kolkata, the report said.

According to the report, while co-working companies accounted for just under 1.8 million sq ft of the 41 million sq ft of annual commercial office space transactions volume, the demand will increase significantly in the next three years.

There are close to 200 co-working players operating an estimated 400 shared workspaces across the country today, compared to just Regus and few localised players in 2010 running less than 30 such centres, the report said.

In Q1 2018, the highest co-working transaction activity was witnessed in Bengaluru, NCR and Hyderabad markets, which contributed 43 per cent, 16 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

"India, today, is witnessing a proliferation of start-ups and SMEs, buoyed by the government's concerted efforts to create a sustainable eco-system for entrepreneurs in the country. Large number of them being millennials, believe in harbouring global aspirations with a staggeringly ambitious mind-set that was not in evidence a few years back."