WeWork India to launch in Noida, will open 3 coworking centres with 3,900 seats

WeWork India, owned by realty firm Embassy Group, is foraying into Noida market, and has taken on lease over three lakh sq ft office space to open three coworking centres comprising nearly 3,900 seats.

At present, it has 26 operational coworking centres with 46,000 seating capacity. The startup has nine centres in Bengaluru, 10 in Mumbai, six in Gurugram, and one in Pune. Seats are available in a price range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 40,000 per desk per month.

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It has taken on lease nearly 1.4 lakh sq ft area from Berger Group, 74,000 sq ft from Logix and around 92,000 sq ft from Advant in Noida for these new facilities, they added.

When contacted, WeWork India spokesperson confirmed that it is entering into Noida market but did not share details.

"We are seeing an uptick in the demand for collaborative spaces by large enterprises because of flexible lease terms, lower deposit requirements, overall cost reduction, as well as plug-and-play simplicity that collaborative spaces offer. Keeping this demand in mind, WeWork is now strengthening its presence by entering the Noida market," the spokesperson said.

The growing demand from freelancers, consultants, and corporates has led to a growth in the co-working sector like never before, the spokesperson added.

"We are very happy to announce our partnership with WeWork India as they enter Noida. Demand for office space in Noida is growing at a fast rate owing to the presence of service industries, large corporations and media hubs all of which are now looking to work out of a collaborative workspace that caters to all their requirements," said Sunil Sharma, Managing Director, Advant India.

Bengaluru-based Embassy Group, a major player in Indian commercial real estate that launched India's first REIT earlier this year, had partnered US-based WeWork in 2016 to enter into coworking business.

WeWork India is an independent entity with the right to execute its business in India and pays a management fee to the American firm.

Last week, Embassy Group said there would be no impact on the Indian operation of coworking business due to deferment of initial public offering (IPO) of the US-based WeWork' parent - The We Company.

The IPO was postponed a week after the SoftBank-backed startup removed founder Adam Neumann as its chief executive officer.

"WeWork India, which is wholly owned and funded by Embassy Group, is our big bet in this space. WeWork India is a strategic long-term play for Embassy group and its performance has exceeded our expectations this year," an Embassy Group spokesperson had said.

Under the leadership of Karan Virwani and Ryan Bennett, the WeWork India team is currently focussed on strategic expansion with an accelerated path to profitability, the spokesperson added.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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