Mumbai-based Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate plans to start shared living and student housing projects for diversifying its portfolio and to capitalize on an alternative asset class targeting millennials, who rely on renting rather than owning homes, said a company’s top executive.
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s real estate firm will be building co-living projects in Pune and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) starting next year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the reverse migration of working professionals and students to their hometowns, to work from home and learn remotely had deeply affected the co-living and student housing sector. The real estate firm which builds luxury to mid-income homes is ranked among mainstream real-estate developers who have ventured into the co-living space which is dominated by the investor-backed startup.
Venkatesh Gopalkrishnan, CEO, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate in an interview said, “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.”
Earlier this year, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate has launched an Olive by Embassy co-living business which targets the growing, young working population in metros. It has also launched its service residences brand, ‘Olive Residences’ this month, under an asset-light management model in which Embassy will be managing the property and earning on revenue- and profit-sharing basis. It plans to launch 100 buildings under the new brand by the end of next year.