"Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus." – Simon Mainwaring
Commons Is Bankrupt, But Why?
You might have read the news: the largest US coliving provider, Common filed for bankruptcy 😮
Now, fundamentally, there are two questions to ask:
- Why did it happen?
- And does it mean that the asset-light coliving model is not sustainable?
For the first question, there might be different factors that led to Common becoming bankrupt:
- As one of the early coliving startups, Common relied on funding that expected high returns and, hence, high growth. Operating in high-pressure environments usually leads to making decisions that are not always sustainable, such as taking on leases with above-market prices in order to hit expansion targets.
- The acquisition in 2022 by coliving operator Habyt might have put even more pressure on the growth path that Common had. Not to mention that potentially, some of the key operating knowledge that Common had was not followed after the acquisition.
- As Murray Murray Clark (CEO of Neighbourgood coliving in Cape Town) mentions in a great LinkedIn post, expanding to different cities makes it harder to stabilize operations than expanding within one core geographical area. Moreover, offering everything “all-inclusive” and “flexible” makes it hard to operate sustainably, and it might be that too much has been offered for too little of a price—or rather, for too much overhead cost.
Now, we can speculate on why it happened.
In the same way, we can speculate on whether the asset-light coliving model is sustainable after all, as many operators are now offering short-term stays in order to balance the vacancies of long-term rooms.
But instead of speculating, we reached out to Brad Hargreaves, the original founder of Common, to ask him about his perspective. And we’re very grateful that he agreed to share!
On Tuesday at 3 pm CET, we will release our exclusive episode “Conversations with Brad Hargreaves: Common Is Bankrupt - But Why?" and we would love to know what questions you’d like to ask him.
👉 Simply respond to this email or comment on the Substack post to let us know, so that we can incorporate them into our interview which we conduct on Monday.
Fundamentally, we believe in coliving.
We believe that coliving can be a solution to the housing crisis, to lower rents, to higher returns, to international living, and to urban and rural living.
But coliving needs to run on a model that is sustainable.
And that is what we at Artof.Co are all about: building sustainable, community-centered housing spaces for tomorrow.
Stay tuned for our conversation with Brad, and let us know what you’d like to know!
We’re looking forward to hearing from him about the key learnings, mistakes, and ideas that came out of operating thousands of coliving units for almost a decade.
The coliving scene deserves to know.
UK Living Market Update, Q1 2024
Financial services company BNP Paribas released the ‘UK Living Market Update Q1 2024’, analyzing the Build-to-Rent (BTR), single-family housing (SFH), and coliving sectors.
- Total Investment: Approximately €1.4 billion invested in BTR, SFH, and coliving sectors in Q1 2024.
- Rental Market Trends: Despite a slow start to the year, strong demand persists due to affordability challenges and a reduction in housing stock.
- Rental Growth: ONS Rental Index reported a 9.2% year-on-year increase in rental prices for the 12 months ending March 2024. Notable growth in London (11.2%), Birmingham (14.1%), and Manchester (12.3%).
- Significant Deals in Coliving Segment:
- Blackrock and Outpost Management JV's £170 million acquisition for The Castle in North Acton, comprising 462 co-living apartments.
- Hub and Bridges Fund Management's €88 million forward funding deal for the Yardhouse scheme in London, with 209 co-living apartments.
- Greystar and Student Roost's planning consent for 249 co-living apartments in Bristol.
Multigenerational Coliving Project in Austria
The space accommodates three residential communities with 15 beds each in combination with the existing home. Covered verandas, open-air terraces, and the central courtyard are part of a large, internal recreation and exercise area.
The 3 groups of childcare facilities range from nursery groups to kindergarten groups, which are accommodated in three spacious, illuminated day rooms, with a south-facing wraparound veranda providing a threshold space and additional sun protection.
Multi Generational Coliving Project
Everything Else Coliving
- We recently did a spotlight on Palma Coliving. Matthieu Zeilas, founder, said they are raising their Series A to go global, and they already secured their first term sheet. They have seen 300% revenue growth from last year, and now have 4 properties, 45 bedrooms located in 3 prime Spanish locations. Their revenue is projected to grow from 1M€ this year to 4M€ by 2027. If you are interested in investing, you can schedule a 15-minute call with Matt to discuss this further.
- Read the 6-month update on Beacon Coliving from David Michael here.
- Watch the replay of the coliving webinar “Resident and Community Experience” hosted by Sandra Abrouk, where she covers the concept of user experience, how to develop a coliving project using the design thinking methodology, and frameworks to design exceptional resident and community experiences.
- The shared economy (coworking and coliving segments) and construction technology segments have emerged as leaders in the proptech space, capturing 55 per cent and 23 per cent of the overall private investments in 2023–24. Read the full report here.
- Cutwork has developed a feasibility study for renovating and transforming the historic Château Conti in Ajaccio, Corsica, into a pioneering hybrid hotel concept with innovative living, working, and exterior garden spaces.
- Interesting project by Simon Lewis, who marketed a hotel into coliving during low season and created destination marketing campaigns in combination with coliving. Read more here.
- More formalization in the coliving industry as West Hollywood is writing new rules for coliving housing. The term, which refers to a living arrangement where residents each have a private bedroom and bathroom but share common spaces (living rooms, kitchens,
etc.), will likely make its way into the city’s Zoning Code by the end
of the summer. - India sees demand for co-living spaces up again after Covid blip.
- Dubai smart-rental startup Colife launches in Hong Kong.
- Society Wynwood Becomes Second Development To Offer Shared Units in Wynwood Area, Miami, USA
- Coliving is finding its way into planning across the world. 200 Renfield Street coliving plans emerge at former Glasgow newspaper office
- Here is the list of award winners for the recently concluded HMO Awards 2023/24 in UK.
- ADIB provides financing for Co-Living accommodation in West London. The Stay Club North Acton boasts a 100% occupancy rate, illustrating the robust tenant demand and limited supply in the residential market
- Steady flow of conversion with existing infrastructure being converted into coliving spaces. A former nightclub is to be demolished to make way for flats.
- Read what Anna Maria Kochanska has to say about what coliving is and what it is not.
We hope you enjoyed this edition and wish you a great weekend ahead. Reply us with your thoughts on what more you want to read and if you have any feedback.
If you want us to cover anything, please mail it to us on coliving@artof.co
Gui Perdrix & Mayank Pokharna
The Artof.Co team