Prestige Group, Awfis to provide 5 lakh sq. ft of flexible working spaces; invest Rs 110 crore

04 February 2022

Prestige Group, Awfis to provide 5 lakh sq. ft of flexible working spaces; invest Rs 110 crore

  • Money Control

Property developer Prestige Group has joined hands with co-working space provider Awfis for the second time in a year to add 12 centres spread across 5 lakh square feet to its portfolio with an investment of Rs 110 crore.

The companies will invest equally to set up these centres, which will open in the next 30 to 60 days, although the Pune centre is expected to become operational in nine months.

The partnership aims to meet growing demand for co-working spaces from startups, small businesses, and mid- and large-sized companies that are looking to adopt hybrid/agile workplace models in the new normal following the pandemic.

“Both companies aim to cater to the growing demand among enterprise clients and large corporations while continuing to cater to startups and SMEs that were the early adopters of co-working,” he said.

The first centre being inaugurated in line with this announcement is at Prestige Tech Park with a capacity of more than 860 seats, located in Bengaluru’s prominent IT corridor on Outer Ring Road. The centre is part of Awfis’ newly launched premium workspace offering – ‘Awfis Gold’ – and houses premium private workspaces as well as collaborative work environments.

“The positive sentiment that is being witnessed in the market first-hand from all key stakeholders resuscitates this collaborative initiative to nurture the spirit of innovation and grow in the flexible workspace sector,” said Juggy Marwaha, CEO of Prestige Office Ventures.

“Nearly 40 million sq. ft of co-working space is now spread across the length and breadth of this country. We definitely believe that the flex segment of the office landscape will continue to rapidly grow,” Marwaha added.

Awfis currently has 95 centres and 55,000 seats across 12 cities and is close to reaching the 100 centre milestone in a few months.

Tier-II cities

Bengaluru-based Prestige Group has completed 112 commercial projects spread across 36 million sq. ft, with 24 upcoming commercial projects spread across 42 million sq. ft in some of the major cities.

Almost half of the office occupiers that already have a presence in tier-II cities are using flexible spaces due to the availability of shorter leases and a cautious approach by companies towards incurring capital expenditure. As many as 78 percent of these occupiers are expected to expand within the next year, with 84 percent wanting to utilise flex spaces, a survey by Jones Lang LaSalle and Awfis showed.

Tier-II cities are also gaining momentum with occupiers looking to enhance their presence, given the business opportunity in the interiors and talent availability with the reverse migration that followed the Covid-19 outbreak.

The total flex stock is 38 million sq. ft, which includes over 550,000 operational seats. Among the top seven cities, Bengaluru is the clear leader accounting for 34 percent of the total flex stock. Large enterprise deals of over 1,000 seats account for about 36 percent of the total market activity since 2020, the survey showed

This article was originally published on 15 December 2021 at :Prestige Group, Awfis To Provide 5 Lakh Sq. Ft Of Flexible Working Spaces; Invest Rs 110 Crore (moneycontrol.com)

Awfis launches new co-working centre in Kolkata spread over 13,000 sq ft

03 April 2023

Awfis launches new co-working centre in Kolkata spread over 13,000 sq ft

  • Posted by Awfis Editorial

The new centre is located at Rashbehari Connector close to E.M. Bypass and will add 13 centres to the company’s co-working portfolio in Kolkata.

Currently, Awfis has a coworking network with 150 centres and 88,000 seats across 17 cities and will continue to increase its foothold to a network of 200 centres by mid-2023.

To meet the rising demand for hybrid workspaces, co-working space provider Awfis has launched a new centre in Kolkata sprawling 13,000 square feet (sq ft).

The new centre is located at Rashbehari Connector close to E.M. Bypass and will add 13 centres to the company’s co-working portfolio in the eastern city.

“We are thrilled to expand our presence in the east with our Acropolis centre launch given the incredibly high demand for flex spaces in a city which is emerging as the next destination for global firms. Awfis hopes to be recognised as one of the market’s pioneers and sees a tremendous opportunity to grow and establish its presence in the city of Kolkata,” said Amit Ramani, Founder & CEO, Awfis.

Awfis’ expansion in Kolkata is a testament to the growing demand for flex workspaces in metropolitan cities as Indian corporates and MNCs are increasingly opting for hybrid working and work near home models for their employees, added Sumit Lakhani, Deputy CEO, Awfis.

The centre was launched by dignitaries such as Angshuman Bhattacharya, Founder, SIBIA Analytics and Consulting Services, Naman Shah, Founder & CEO, NowPurchase, Hari Balasubramanian, Angel Investor, Ex TiE President, Ramani and Lakhani.

This story appeared in the 20 January, 2023 issue of Moneycontrol and was originally published at: Awfis launches new co-working centre in Kolkata spread over 13,000 sq ft
Awfis to expand to 0.6 million sq ft by end of 2022 across seven tier-2 cities

27 September 2022

Awfis to expand to 0.6 million sq ft by end of 2022 across seven tier-2 cities

  • Posted by Awfis Editorial

The company expects annual revenue to touch Rs 100 crore from emerging metros over the next 12 months

Co-working company Awfis is expected to touch 0.6 mn sq. ft. by the end of the year after it expands to seven Tier 2 cities such as Jaipur, Indore and Bhubaneshwar and sets up more centres in existing cities such as Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.  This will translate to around Rs 100 crore of annual recurring revenue over the next one year, Amit Ramani, founder and CEO, Awfis told Moneycontrol.

“The expansion in flexible office spaces across cities is driven largely due to the hybrid work model. Flexibility and speed are driving even large occupiers to go into Tier 2 cities to source talent, and footprint of flexible office spaces in Tier 2 cities is expected to almost double this year,” he said.

The company, which is at 0.3 mn sq. ft. currently in 5 tier 2 cities is expecting to touch 0.6 mn sq. ft. by the end of the year. It plans to expand its footprint in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore and Bhubaneshwar where it is already operational.
In Indore, where it has a footprint of 75,000 sq ft, it intends to touch 125k sq ft. It has recently expanded to Jaipur where it has 100,000 sq ft. It entered Ahmedabad last year where it intends to touch 75,000 sq ft by the end of this year. Nagpur, Kochi and Lucknow will contribute 120,000 sq ft by end of the year.

With current visibility of Rs 35 crore Annual Revenue Run Rate from Tier 2, it’s expected to touch Rs 100 crore ARR from Tier 2 cities alone, over the next 12 months.

The co-working firm is currently in fit-outs and LoI (Letter of Intent) stage in Kochi and Lucknow, and plans to further expand into Chandigarh and Nagpur.

The co-working player is also planning an IPO by next year.

In all these cities, the tenant mix comprises large enterprises and start-ups. “Large enterprises take up 50 percent of the demand and the other 50 percent comprises mid-segment enterprises and start-ups,” he said.

This story appeared in the 27 September, 2022 issue of Money Control and was originally published at: Awfis to expand to 0.6 million sq ft by end of 2022 across seven tier-2 cities

Return to work: After a gap of two years, 35% companies see 75% employees returning to office

03 August 2022

Return to work: After a gap of two years, 35% companies see 75% employees returning to office

  • Posted by Awfis Editorial

Consulting and telecom companies have the highest rate of return to office; 80 percent of e-commerce companies have witnessed only up to 50 percent rate of return among employees

After almost three waves of COVID-19, about 35 percent of office occupiers have seen almost 75 to 100 percent of employees returning to offices. This includes the hybrid way of working wherein employees come into the office a few times a week, according to a C-Suite Survey conducted by Colliers and Awfis.

Telecom and Consulting sectors see the highest (75-100 percent) rate of return to office. Sectors with the lowest (0-25 percent) rate of return are IT and new technology companies, it noted.

As many as 41 percent of occupiers stated that up to 25 percent of their employees have returned to office. Mid-sized firms have reported a relatively higher rate of return, stating that 75-100 percent of employees have returned to work, the survey said.
As many as 80 percent of e-commerce companies have witnessed only up to 50 percent rate of return among employees, it said.

About 53 percent of occupiers prefer working from home and office as their preferred workplace portfolio strategy. About 49 percent of the occupiers are likely to adopt flex centres to enable distributed workspace, followed by setting up their own offices in metro and non-metro cities, it said.

In H1 2022, flex operators leased about 3.5 million sq feet, accounting for about 13 percent of the overall leasing, in line with the surging demand for flex space by occupiers. Almost half of the occupiers said they will prefer to adopt flex spaces as a mode to enable distributed workspace. Interestingly, even non-metro cities are seeing a growth of flex spaces as occupiers look towards distributed workspaces, the survey said.

The Colliers and Awfis Survey explores the status of return to work across different sectors. It delves into how occupiers are likely to choose distributed workspaces and devise flex space strategies by understanding their current usage patterns and preferences.

The survey was conducted during May-June 2022 for occupiers across different sectors such as IT/ITeS, BFSI, engineering and manufacturing, and others. A total of about 150 responses were received from C-Suite executives spanning founders, CEOs, COOs and CHROs of various companies. The company size of the respondents varied, starting from the range of 1-500 employees to companies having over 10,000 employees.

“The survey has made it clear that a distributed workspace strategy is the way to go for occupiers in this new era of experiential workplaces, as occupiers emerge from the after-effects of the pandemic. Flex spaces, in particular, are leading this growth, as occupiers from varied sectors are housing teams in flex centres across cities. This shift in strategy also reflects in the leasing by flex operators – flex operators leased about 3.5 million sq ft of space in H1 2022 across the top six cities, almost three-fourths of the flex leasing in the entire 2021,” said Ramesh Nair, Chief Executive Officer, India and Managing Director, Market Development, Asia, Colliers.

Further, the survey reveals that as occupiers straddle business goals and employee wellbeing together, about 74 percent of the occupiers are looking at distributed workspace, and more than half of the IT/ITeS companies (the largest occupier group) prefer a distributed work model for their employees. Therefore, we can see opportunities for flex spaces not only in metro cities but also in non-metro cities. In fact, in non-metro cities, total flex spaces are likely to grow more than two-fold to 5.5 million sq  ft by the end of 2022, he said.

“The findings of the survey are a testament to the success of the distributed work model and subsequently of flex spaces in catering to the ever-evolved workspace needs of India Inc. The survey unveils that currently 74 percent of occupiers have adopted flex centres for their workspace needs, given the multiple benefits associated with flex working. Going forward, 77 percent of occupiers will include flex spaces as part of their workplace strategy. We expect exceptional demand in the future, driven largely by large corporates for de-densification of existing traditional offices,” said Amit Ramani, founder and CEO, Awfis.

“About 90 percent of the occupiers from e-commerce and consulting sectors are likely to include flex space in their current portfolio. Occupiers see dual benefits arising out of distributed workspaces. They view time and cost-saving benefits followed by better work-life balance for employees,” said Vimal Nadar, Senior Director and Head of Research, Colliers India.

This story appeared in the 3 August, 2022 issue of Money Control and was originally published at: Return to work: After a gap of two years, 35% companies see 75% employees returning to office

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