<ul><li>Data centres, <keyword id="6713616" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="co-living-spaces" source="Orion">co-living spaces</keyword> along with other alternate real estate assets are seeing steady institutional inflows for four years, says Colliers.</li><li>India’s economic outlook is sturdy and the business case for alternative investments will only strengthen, it adds.</li><li>Data centres see almost half of all the institutional inflows into alternate assets. </li></ul>Indian alternate real estate assets like co-living spaces, data centres and more have been attracting domestic as well as foreign capital, along with conventional sectors like residential and office spaces. As of the first half of 2023, as much as $158 million was investment into such assets, says a report by Colliers. The breakout year for investments into these assets was 2022 when it touched $900 million. The key driver to this growth was foreign investments which rose six times last year as compared to 2019. India’s GDP is pegged to grow at 6.6% in 2023 as per IMF and the report adds that at such a time when India’s economic outlook remains sturdy amidst global challenges, the business case for alternative investments will only strengthen. “While core sectors continue to dominate the institutional inflows in the Indian real estate sector, the share of alternatives has risen significantly from 3% in 2019, to 18% during 2022,” said Piyush Gupta, managing director of capital markets &amp; investment services at Colliers. The billion dollar investment idea Since 2019, <keyword id="16069" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-centers" source="Orion">data centers</keyword> have received $1 billion of institutional inflows, with inflows rising multi-fold in the last five years. During the period under review (2019- H1 2023), data centres accounted for about 51% share in the total investments in alternatives, the report said. “India's data centre market is experiencing rapid growth, fuelled by a remarkable surge in virtualisation, e-commerce, cloud computing, and the prolific generation of public data. As the world's second-fastest-growing digital economy, India is set to witness the IT &amp; Communication sector's doubling by 2025, contributing approximately $400 billion to the Indian GDP,” said Amit Sarin, MD at Anant Raj, a real estate developer. The Government of India has recently enacted the Data Protection Bill to ensure protection of data and this has further boosted the demand for data centres, say experts. Data centres are also witnessing large platform deals between developers and investors who are looking to grow their businesses multi-fold. In May 2023, Lumina CloudInfra, a data centre platform owned and managed by Blackstone’s Real Estate and Tactical Opportunities funds, announced its plan to invest more than $300 million to develop a hyperscale data centre campus in Navi Mumbai. Reliance Industries also partnered with Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty for developing data centres in select locations in India. Co-living — an emerging sector Other alternative asset classes such as life sciences, co-living have also seen increased traction, Colliers say. Alternate assets also include senior housing, holiday homes, student housing and co-living properties. The co-living sector in India too saw expansion during Covid-19 pandemic. “This growth has led to increased organisation within the sector, with only committed and reputable players remaining in the business. The demand for co-living accommodations continues to surge nationwide, indicating a promising outlook,” said Sunny Garg, co-founder &amp; CEO, Crib, a SaaS-based property management solution provider. Co-living also offers higher rental returns compared to traditional rental arrangements, making it an enticing prospect for institutional investors, Garg adds. The trend is also going beyond metros, experts say. “This demand is emerging in tier II cities as well. To meet this growing demand, we have strategic plans to expand our facilities into tier II cities like Ahmedabad,” said Abhishek Tripathi, co-founder, Settl, a co-living space developer.

Foreign investments in alternate real estate assets jump 6X in four years

<ul><li>China's push for rental housing startups ended up pushing local rentals through the roof, according to a Wharton University report. </li><li>OYO, <keyword id="2766908" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nestaway">Nestaway</keyword>, <keyword id="3844186" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="CoHo">CoHo</keyword> and <keyword id="136437" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lemon-Tree-Hotels">Lemon Tree Hotels</keyword> are working on similar models in India. </li><li>The report recommends mortgage trusts as a solution to keep rents under check and still allow co-living to be a viable business model.</li></ul>India's largest budget hotel chain is ready to kick off it's new venture, Hamstede, where private equity major Warburg Pincus will be a majority shareholder. "The board (of Lemon Tree Hotels) has approved an initial investment of $5 million," Chairman and Managing Director Patanjali Keswani told Business Insider. The company will have a 30% stake in Hamstede. And it's not the only one. A whole host of startups like OYO, CoHo, and Nestaway are growing fast. Consulting firm PwC has pegged the market for urban residential housing at $13.5 billion. Delhi-based CoHo had estimated the <a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/05/coho/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">co-living market in India at $10 billion</a> in 2016. The model that Hamstede is built on is derived from the successes of three Chinese companies offering co-living spaces Mofang, Nova, and Zirooms, and another startup based in Hong Kong Weave. Warburg Pincus is an investor all these companies and all these firms played a part in the rental housing boom in China in recent years. The Chinese experience with co-living has an ominous sign for Indian tenants. President Xi Jinping pushed for the rental housing boom <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-houseprices-rent-analys/how-chinas-plan-to-develop-rental-housing-backfired-idUSKCN1LU0JA" data-type="tilCustomLink">but it backfired</a>. Despite the increased supply of homes, rents in China’s major cities soared in the double-digits. While the companies' valuations spiked, accommodation became unaffordable for many students and young professionals. In some cities, rents increased by as much as 30% between 2017 and 2018, according to <a href="http://d1c25a6gwz7q5e.cloudfront.net/reports/2019-03-08-E-House-Poly-FINAL.pdf" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">a study by Wharton University</a> released in March 2019. How co-living business works "Today if you live in Mumbai, and you work in Lower Parel, you cannot afford an apartment there. Your apartment will be in Borivali and travelling two hours one way everyday. I will put up a co-living space very close to Lower Parel but the trade-off is I will give you a far more compact living area, where you spend the night. The common area will be very social, where youngsters can hang in the evening, with a living room and an open kitchen and so on," Lemon Tree Hotels' Chairman Patanjali Keswani said explaining the model to Business Insider. However, in China, the rush build capacity home-owners borrowed heavily and companies bid generously for land parcels. The excess cost was passed on to the tenants, the Wharton study showed-- an important lesson as Indian startups chase the same opportunity. Big money is chasing these new co-living ventures. Not just Warburg Pincus, Tiger Global, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC are all invested in the idea in different countries. As India opens up to co-living, tenants will be looking for affordability, particularly in big cities like Mumbai where rents are already beyond many people's reach. The solution The Wharton study recommends securitisation as a possible solution to keep both the rents and the financial pressure on companies low. Companies can raise money against the rents receivable and distribute the income as as dividends to shareholders. In formal terms, this will be a real estate investment trust. Both Mofang and Zirooms have raised money using this route in China, but retail investors are not allowed to invest in these securities yet, according to the report. If the experiment helps in cooling the Chinese property market, both owned and rental, this can become a new avenue for financing high-cost co-living projects without adding burden on the tenants. An idea Indian companies can borrow too. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/from-pgs-to-co-living-spaces-how-student-accommodation-is-changing-in-india/articleshow/65201577.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">From PGs to co-living spaces: How student accommodation is changing in India</a>

China's experience with co-living should be a warning for tenants as well as companies in India

Mumbai, Feb 20 () Co-living, co-working and student housing, which are emerging segments in the Indian real estate sector, have the potential to generate rental yield of 7-11 per cent, according to a report by CII and Anarock. The report, titled 'Emerging Asset Classes: The Future Looks Promising', was released at the 2nd CII Real Estate Confluence here on Thursday. It delves into these highly promising new Indian real estate asset classes and explores their growth drivers as well as the underlying opportunities for investors and other real estate stakeholders. "Co-living, student housing and co-working have rental yields of anywhere between 7 per cent and 11 per cent -- a significant step-up from the 3 per cent national average rental yield of traditional housing formats," Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said. Co-living, student housing and senior living are the next evolutionary step in the residential real estate domain, while co-working has evolved from traditional office real estate, he said. "The drivers behind this evolution are changing social dynamics, a highly enabled start-up environment, rising interest in higher education by migratory student population, and the need for quality housing solutions for senior citizens," Puri said. According to the report, top-6 co-living players currently have 1.18 lakh beds priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 30,000 per month. As many as 13 prominent student housing brands now have 1.5 lakh beds across India. Senior housing growth is primarily in top cities' outskirts and tier-II and III cities like Bhiwadi (NCR), Neral (Mumbai), Talegaon (Pune), Devanahalli (Bengaluru), Mysuru and Coimbatore. "Co-living, student housing and senior living are fundamentally innovative and specialised residential assets, but with varied business models," Puri said. While co-working as a segment has flourished in India, there are interesting differences in how local and global players address it. Domestic co-working operators have restricted their presence to tier-I cities, while global players are also penetrating into tier-II and III cities. The report also highlighted that data centres, with potential of 10-14 per cent rental yield, is drawing high investor interest. The recent Budget's proposal to roll out a new policy for building data centre parks underscores the importance and relevance of this promising asset class. MJH HRS

Co-living, co-working, student housing can generate 7-11 pc rental yield: Report

New Delhi, Jan 21 () Leading realty firm Embassy Group on Tuesday announced an investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore to develop six greenfield co-living properties across major cities to meet the growing need of shared rental homes for students and co-living professionals.
 Bengaluru-based Embassy Group, which last year launched India's first real estate investment trust (REIT) and runs co-working business WeWork India, will operate co-living business under a separate firm 'Olive by Embassy'.
 "We are launching a new firm and brand 'Olive' for our co-living business which is now emerging as a separate asset class. The objective is to disrupt the PG (accommodation) market which is unorganised and poorly managed," Embassy group Chief Operating Officer Aditya Virwani told .
 The company has identified two land parcels to develop co-living centres in Bengaluru and Chennai, said Virwani, who is also co-founder of Olive.
 "We are targeting to start development of 5-6 greenfield co-living properties this year with capacity of 5,000-10,000 beds," he said, adding that the company would operate in a price range of Rs 10,000-20,000 per bed.
 The first centre is expected to be operational by middle of the next year.
 Asked about investment, Virwani said the total project cost could be around Rs 800-1,000 crore, including land cost. Embassy group would invest fund in the co-living business.
 "We will go to the market to raise funds after establishing the brand," he said.
 The company plans to expand co-living business in cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi NCR. The first phase will see the launch of 20,000 beds -- Bengaluru 15,000, Chennai 2500 and Pune 2500. It is also open to tie up with land owners to develop co-living centres.
 Virwani said the yield in co-living business is almost similar to commercial properties of 7-8 per cent.
 "The shared economy concept has percolated all aspects of society, creating unprecedented disruptions as well as opportunities.
 "Today, it is not just the scarcity of spaces or living in congestion that are driving co-living but also the affordability and flexibility, aspirations of the current generation, transition from owning to sharing, the digital economy and the technological innovation," Virwani said.
 Stating that there are over 36 million students in higher education and the migrant millennial workforce is growing at a rapid pace across metros, he said Olive by Embassy aims to uplift the standard of living for this segment with hospitality services and an eco-system.
 The co-living projects are designed and developed by the UK-based design consultancy Priestman Goode.
 On Monday, realty portal Housing.com said the co-living market will double to Rs 2 lakh crore by 2023. MJH HRS

Embassy Group forms new firm Olive to enter co-living biz; to invest Rs 1k cr to build 6 centres

New Delhi, Jan 22 () Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Pune are the three biggest markets for student housing in the country, and these cities require an additional 4.75 lakh beds from organised co-living operators to meet the current demand, according to a report.
 Cushman &amp; Wakefield (C&amp;W), in association with the Student Accommodation Providers Forum of India (SAPFI), on Wednesday released a report "Exploring the Student Housing Universe in India City Insights".
 The report has identified education clusters in the cities of Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Pune, the three biggest markets for professionally managed student accommodation (PMSA) operators.
 The report estimated 9.08 million migrant students in India, amounting to over 24 per cent of 37 million total student enrolments in the country's higher educational institutions (HEIs) for the year 2018-19. 
 "Delhi-NCR with 7.45 lakh students enrolled in HEIs as of 2018-19 has 50 per cent outstation students. There is demand for additional 2.5 lakh beds from PMSA operators," it said. 
 Bengaluru has the highest number of HEIs in India with student enrolments estimated at 5.38 lakh. 
 With 60 per cent outstation students, additional demand currently stands at around 92,000 beds, the report said. 
 In Pune, the report said student enrolment stood at nearly 4 lakh. With 60 per cent outstation students, additional capacity requirements in PMSA segment is 1.33 lakh beds.
 Anshul Jain, Country Head and Managing Director-India, Cushman and Wakefield, said: "The significant mass of migrant students in the higher education sector today demand and expect quality student accommodation facilities providing food, security and a range of amenities. While globally, PMSA has found its footing as part of the mainstream real estate sector, in India it is still in a nascent stage."
 With policy support and private investments, Jain said the student housing segment could be the next growth driver in the overall realty sector. 
 Kaushal Mahan, Convenor, SAPFI, said, "The sector is expected to witness a huge amount of foreign direct investment inflows resulting in job creation and economic development."
 Mahan said this segment requires encouragement from the government for building a favourable policy ecosystem. MJH ANS
ANS

Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune biggest markets for student housing in India: Report

IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi have bred the most number of future unicorn founders

News Corp-backed real estate classifieds portal <keyword id="1960231" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> on Monday announced its entry in co-living segment, and has tied up with <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> and <keyword id="2366577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="zolo">Zolo</keyword> as well as unorganised players for listing around 5 lakh beds on its platform. Housing.com, part of Singapore-based Elara Technologies that also owns PropTiger.com and Makaan, also released a report on co-living which highlighted that the market size of this segment is estimated to double at Rs 2 lakh crore by 2023. "We are entering into co-living segment which is a big growth area. We have launched an exclusive section for co-living on our Housing.com. As of now, it will work as search and discovery platform, but direct bookings on our platform will be enabled later," Housing.com CEO Dhruv Agarwala told reporters here. 
 Housing.com, which is also backed by Softbank, Accel and SAIF Partners, has tied up with OYO Life and Zolo to promote their co-living spaces on its platform. 
 At present, the classifieds platform has around 5 lakh beds across major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, Agarwala said . 
 Out of the 5 lakh beds, around 50,000 beds are from OYO and Zolo. 
 "We plan to scale up this listing to a million beds by the end of 2020," he said. 
 Asked about revenue model, Agarwala said it could be through advertising and the co-living segment would become a significant revenue generator for Housing.com in coming years. 
 "The way in which the concept of co-working is changing how traditional commercial work spaces operate in India, co-living is transforming traditional renting. The change is driven by a highly mobile millennial workforce and a growing student population with a new mindset," Agarwala said. 
 Recently, US-based News Corp and its Australian group firm REA made fresh investment of around USD 70 million (Rs 500 crore) in Elara Technologies, sources had said. 
 With this fresh funding, Elara has raised USD 175 million (about Rs 1,250 crore) so far from investors.
 Elara Technologies first set up PropTiger.com in 2011 and then acquired Makaan.com in May 2015.
 In a major consolidation in the Indian online real estate business, Elara acquired Housing.com in January 2017, a start-up founded in 2012 by around a dozen IIT graduates.
 While PropTiger helps developers in selling flats available in the primary market, Makaan.com largely deals in buy-sell of re-sale properties.
 Housing.com is a classified platform for developers, brokers and homeowners with over one million listings. 
 Elara has 23 offices across India and 1,800 employees. MJH RVK

NewsCorp owned Housing.com partners with Oyo and Zolo

Most of the <keyword id="639956" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="individuals">individuals</keyword> of the Gen X (born between 1965 to 1980) especially from middle class families, have spent majority years of their lives saving up for retirement, getting their children married and after meeting all of these responsibilities, have finally ended up buying a residential <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> restricted to their domestic markets. On the other end of the demographic, are the millennials (born between 1981 to 1996), who often think of starting their real estate investments around the age of 28-30, but even then, have to begin their investments with huge down payments and seek big loans with lengthy tenures that take years to pay back. And once they finally own the property, there are ongoing expenses like mortgage payments, property maintenance, property taxes and insurance. From the years 1990 to 2010, post globalisation and liberalisation, travelling across countries and continents became more frequent and individuals began to recognise themselves as global citizens. This changed further from the years 2010 to 2020, when these individuals began investing in real estate across the globe. It was more after 2008, the global financial crisis, when investors went beyond their traditional residential investments and started venturing into different asset classes globally like commercial, warehouses, <keyword id="6368036" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotels">hotels</keyword> etc. However, in 2020, the world was presented with an unprecedented economic, humanitarian and healthcare challenge. The <keyword id="43587" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="pandemic">pandemic</keyword> affected everyone and changed nearly everything. We have advanced by almost a decade because of the ongoing pandemic in terms of technology usage and the world is closer, now more than ever. So what now? This is where <keyword id="5034071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="fractional">fractional</keyword> ownership in real estate comes in the picture. For the first time, investors can buy a share of a property anywhere across the globe, through a fully-compliant, fractional, tokenized ownership. FracAssets is a tech-backed distribution platform that enables investors to identify fractions of real estate across the globe. FracAssets now gives investors an opportunity to diversify their real estate portfolio by investing in fractions of commercial, residential, warehouses, hotels, second homes, senior living and co-living across the globe. So what is fractional ownership? Fractional Ownership, in simple terms, is when a number of investors, not necessarily known to each other, join together to invest in a real estate asset so that all of them can benefit from a share of the income that the asset generates, and any appreciation in the value of the real estate. For example, a 3,500 square feet office space which costs approximately ₹10 crore in the commercial hub of Mumbai, can be owned by 100 diverse and unrelated individuals who each invest an amount of ₹10 lakh. This way, every investor earns <keyword id="11052140" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="returns-proportional">returns proportional</keyword> to his respective share from the total rental yield, enjoys currency appreciation and can exit the investment at the prevailing market value of the property once it appreciates. Future of real estate investing is only Fractional -- investments beyond boundaries and nationalities – so what’s happening globally? Fractional ownership might be a fairly new concept in <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, however, we believe that the idea is here to stay and the future of real estate investing is only fractional. If you look at global markets like the USA, Canada, China, Singapore and Hong Kong, fractional investments have shown significant traction. Fractional ownership in real estate is expected to become a dominant investment trend in Indian markets as well in the coming years, as it provides accessibility for every generation of Indians to invest and diversify their real estate which was previously limited through the traditional route and most did not have the financial means to do so. Key benefits of fractional ownership: Low ticket size: Investments in fractional real estate globally start from as low as $10 in USA, CAD 50 in Canada and AED 2500 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Fractional ownership of a Grade A property is a great solution for someone who is looking for a pocket-friendly investment, outside the volatility of share markets and low interest rates on fixed deposits. Thus, providing a completely new investment asset class to investors, who can now own a real estate asset according to their budget and location preference. Asset class and location diversification: Like the adage goes - “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” with fractional ownership an investor with a budget of say ₹50 lakh, can allot the investment amount across fractions of properties and receive returns from a hotel apartment in Dubai, a senior living in Ontario or a warehouse in India, in turn diversifying their portfolios. Currency diversification: Investors unlock a whole new path to earn returns -- currency appreciation, beyond the traditional rental yields and capital appreciation. Investing across multiple locations and currencies enables investors to earn returns in dollars, dirhams, euros etc., thus diversifying their currency portfolio and reducing the risk of investing in only one or two currencies. For example, a 23 year old, just starting off her career, can save up and invest in a fractional residential property in the UAE and benefit from a rental yield of approximately 6% to 7% along with capital appreciation. The investor is also benefiting from currency appreciation as dirham is pegged to the US dollar. Accessibility: Fractional ownership provides access to premium properties which were previously only available to high net-worth individuals and large institutions with very high ticket sizes. Pre-vetted properties: All the properties listed on the platform have a stringent screening criteria and undergo thorough due diligence. Fractional real estate products are professionally managed assets and in general a fully supported end-to-end process where investors have hardly any headache to take. An investor only requires to have their know your customer (<keyword id="167905" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="KYC">KYC</keyword>) documents and an online bank account to start investing. We at FracAssets, identify assets from different platforms that are ready, fully constructed properties and are pre-leased. This mitigates the risk involved in dealing with real estate that is under development or not constructed. How are the investments structured? For each property, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is created, which makes such co-ownership in real estate possible. An SPV is just “a separate new entity” – it’s no different than setting up a new business. An SPV is a distinct company created for a specific purpose with its own assets and liabilities. Properties are owned in newly formed SPVs and the customers are shareholders or partners of the SPV. SPVs only purpose is to hold the property on behalf of the customers and no other operational activities are carried out in them. Investment opportunities FracAssets uses various global fractional platforms to regularly provide investors investment options in real estate across commercial, residential, warehouses, hotels, second homes, senior living and co-living. A few opportunities on our platform are a residential apartment in Dubai, UAE, an office space in Mumbai, India, a second home in Paphos, Cyprus etc. To summarise for millennials, the future of investing in real estate is only Fractional Individuals can no longer be restricted to a particular nationality as decided on paper or by their birthplace. Technology has been disrupting every industry and real estate is no different. Now with technology and social media each one of us is a global citizen -- one world. An individual who wasn’t thinking beyond residential real estate is now not only looking at investing globally but investing across commercial, warehouses, hotels, second homes, senior living and co-living globally. Fractional ownership is a trend that has entered the Indian market recently and has since then made real estate a more lucrative and feasible investment option for all generations of Indians. Fractional ownership is gaining great acceptance and traction from both the investors as well as the overall real estate industry and is here to stay. About the authors The authors include Hitesh Dhankani, chief executive officer (CEO) of Analah21 and FracAssets and was assisted by Fazilat Reshamvala. Disclaimer: Prior to making any investment decisions, any recipient of this document or the information should take steps to understand the risk and return of the investment and seek individualised advice from his or her personal financial, legal, tax and other professional advisors. Investments in real estate and unlisted shares carry a risk and may not provide the anticipated returns and there is a possibility of losing the entire capital as well. Past performance is not a guarantee of future return, nor is it necessarily indicative of future performance. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/pepperfry-co-founder-ashish-shah-gets-candid-about-its-ipo-plans-says-profitability-is-right-around-the-corner/articleshow/81908005.cms">Pepperfry co-founder gets candid about its IPO plans, says profitability is right around the corner</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/lg-electronics-exits-smartphone-business-world-wide-lg-smartphone-timeline-history/articleshow/81908186.cms">LG Electronics exits the smartphone business – here’s how its mobile fortunes swayed over the last two decades</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-hcl-tech-infosys-q4-earnings-preview-and-guidance/articleshow/81908765.cms">Record breaking quarter for Indian IT services is a given ⁠— all eyes are now on guidance</a>

OPINION: The future of real estate investing is Fractional

Mumbai, Nov 24 () Nexus Venture Partners-backed co-living space provider Zolostays is in talks with Credit Suisse to raise around USD 100 million (about Rs 710 crore) to fund its expansion plans, a top company official said.
 The Bengaluru-based firm is planning to increase its portfolio to 2 lakh beds by the end of 2021, Zolostays co-founder and Chief Executive Nikhil Sikri told .
 "We are in talks with Credit Suisse to raise USD 100 million in Series C round to fund our expansion plans to increase the number of beds to 2 lakh," he said, adding the company will also increase its headcount.
 However, Sikri didn't offer any timeline for the funding plan.
 In January this year, Zolostays had raised USD 30 million in Series B funding round led by IDFC Alternatives, Mirae Asset and Nexus Venture Partners.
 Founded in 2015 by brothers Nikhil and Akhil Sikri, the company had raised USD 5 million in Series A round led by Nexus Venture Partners.
 Currently, the shared space market is estimated at around 10 million beds and the organised sector, which includes co-living service providers, contributes under 1 per cent.
 "We have a portfolio of 35,000 beds spanning nine cities, which includes 3,000 dedicated to students. Additionally, 15,000 beds are under various stages of development and will be live before March. Our target is to have 2 lakh beds by 2021-end," Sikri said.
 However, he ruled out expanding too much into the students space or entering new cities.
 Sikri said Zolostays' student living portfolio will be limited to 10 per cent at least for the the next few years.
 While adding more beds, the focus will be existing markets only, he said, adding "we are present in nine cities -- Bengaluru, Chennai, Kota, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Noida and Coimbatore" -- and "will limit ourselves to these cities as we know these markets well".
 Zolostays boasts of marquee realty developers like Godrej Properties, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, Sobha Developers, Olympia Group, DRA, and Ozone Group as it partners.
 Explaining the business model, Sikri said, "we either lease out an entire building from the developer or share the upside with them. Given the current slowdown in the realty sector, many developers are looking to partner with people like us as they are assured of good returns." PSK BEN RVK

Zolostays in talks with Credit Suisse for USD 100 mn funding

New Delhi, Feb 13 () Private equity (PE) investment in the real estate sector rose 3 per cent to Rs 43,704 crore during the last calendar year on increased interest of foreign investors in commercial properties, property consultant Cushman &amp; Wakefield said on Thursday. According to the data, PE investment in office segment declined to Rs 21,890 crore in 2019, from Rs 23,930 crore in 2018, while housing segment saw 22 per cent fall in PE inflows to Rs 7,457 crore during the period under review, from Rs 9,600 crore a year ago. However, PE investment in retail and warehousing segments increased during last year. Retail segment attracted Rs 5,500 crore last year as against Rs 1,990 crore in 2018. Warehousing witnessed Rs 3,810 crore worth investment in 2019 as compared with Rs 2,870 crore in the previous year. "With volumes touching Rs 43,700 crore in 2019, in comparison to Rs 42,440 crore in 2018, confirms the confidence of institutional investors in the Indian real estate market," said Anshul Jain, Country Head &amp; Managing Director, India, Cushman &amp; Wakefield. Jain further added that "with strong demand in the commercial segment, investor interest has remained robust in this asset class, for core and build-to-core opportunities, despite the tepidness in the residential sector". Jain expects investment volumes to remain healthy on account of anticipated deployment of fund commitments that have been made across the office and warehousing/logistics platforms. "In addition, strategic investments in alternative segments like co-living / student housing, co-working, and data centers are likely to garner active interest from institutional investors," he said. As per the data, foreign investors contributed 72.9 per cent to total investment inflows during 2019. Equity capital infusion formed 80.5 per cent of the total investment inflows during 2019, up from a 64 per cent share in 2018. "... joint ventures between foreign investors and domestic entities remain a bright spot indicating long term and patient capital being invested into the sector. Such partnerships aimed at greenfield, brownfield development especially in commercial (office and retail) and industrial segments is a sign of increasing institutionalization in the real estate sector," the consultant said. Greenfield Development refers to the real estate development of land not previously used for residential, commercial or industrial purpose. Brownfield development mean to start a project based on prior work or to rebuild (engineer) a product from an existing one. Mumbai topped the annual investment volume with a 32 per cent share, followed by Bengaluru at 14 per cent. Pune had a 7 per cent share in the overall investments for 2019, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai at 6 per cent each. Cushman &amp; Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm with 48,000 employees in about 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2017, the firm had revenue of USD 6.9 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. MJH DRR

PE investment in real estate up 3 pc at Rs 43,704 cr during 2019: Report

New Delhi, Dec 15 () Housing sales are estimated to rise by mere 4 per cent to 2.58 lakh units across seven major cities during this calendar year on subdued demand because of liquidity crunch and overall economic slowdown, according to property brokerage firm Anarock.
 "Indian real estate was devoid of any appreciable forward momentum in 2019. Dwindling consumption, lacklustre investment appetite and the global slowdown overshadowed all possibilities for growth," Anarock Property Consultants Chairman Anuj Puri said.
 India's GDP growth rate slumped to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent in Q2 FY20.
 In its yearly round-up for the real estate sector, Anarock said that collectively, all four quarters of 2019 are likely to see housing sales of 2,58,410 units (assuming 56,200 units in Q4 2019) as against 2,48,300 units sold in entire 2018.
 Sales were better in the first half of this year but demand fell in the third quarter.
 Anarock tracks seven major cities -- Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
 "The real estate sector's performance - a reliable barometer of India's overall economic health - painfully reflected the macro-economic state of affairs. The liquidity crisis did not relent and dented any 'real' growth during the year," Puri said.
 "Multiple developers fell off the grid while others still struggle to stay viable. However, strong players with healthy balance sheets - in many cases diversified beyond real estate - sailed through 2019 and recorded decent housing sales and revenue growth," he added.
 For the housing sector, 2019 was a non-event in terms of sales growth and investor interest.
 "Sentiments remained subdued, sustaining almost solely on end-user activity focused on ready-to-move-in or almost-complete homes. Branded developers gained ground, with some listed players performing exceptionally well on sales and commensurate revenue growth," he said.
 For the housing sector, Puri said the only light at the end of the dark financial tunnel was the announcement of the alternative investment fund (AIF) of Rs 25,000 crore to facilitate the completion of stuck affordable and mid-segment homes.
 In fact, affordable housing remained upbeat in 2019 thanks to multiple government sops throughout the year.
 First-time homebuyers were given further tax deductions (now amounting to Rs 3.5 lakh in a year) on interest amount of home loans below Rs 45 lakh availed within FY 2020-end.
 Luxury and ultra-luxury segments remained limited to end-user interest, with no serious investor activity.
 Co-living and student housing gained momentum during the year.
 In the organised housing brokerage business, Noida-based Investors Clinic, Anarock, News Corp-backed PropTiger, Anil Ambani-led Reliance group-backed Square Yards, Quikr Realty, Gurugram-based 360 Realtors and Wealth Clinic are the leading players. MJH ABM
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