Six years after WeWork took the office market by storm with its breakthrough co-working real estate concept, the New York-based startup set its eyes on the next big opportunity for its communal real estate business model: co-living.
WeLive launched early last year with locations in Lower Manhattan and Arlington, Va., and the company has plans to expand to as many as 14 cities in the coming years.
WeLive turns the traditional multifamily rental model on its head. Gone is the long-term lease agreement; Tenants are “members” who can stay month to month, even day to day. Eventually, as the WeLive network expands, members will be able to move freely city to city, as needed, at no additional cost.
From a practicality standpoint, co-living makes complete sense for young, single, and highly mobile working professionals. The spaces are well designed, fully furnished, filled with attractive amenities, and come complete with all the niceties of modern living: towels and linens, housekeeping services, HDTVs, premium cable, high-speed WiFi, concierge staff, even free refreshments like tea, coffee, and fruit water. Think apartment complex meets hotel—but with a crucial twist.
The secret sauce, according to WeWork, is the “We” in WeLive: spaces and programs designed to foster a strong sense of community and connection with other members. Each location has a full-time community concierge team, which organizes events like movie nights, cocktail hours, and formal and informal meals in a communal kitchen. The mailroom and laundry room double as bars and event spaces, and amenities like a rooftop deck and a hot tub encourage tenants to meet and mingle.
WeWork has no shortage of competitors in the co-living market space. Common, HubHaus, Krash, Node, Open Door, Pure House, and Roam Co-living are among the dozen or so startups that are aiming to profit from the mainstreaming of the “hacker house,” commune, or boarding house dwelling models. Investors have taken notice, and have pumped millions into these fledgling businesses. (Common, for instance, has raised more than $23 million from multiple investors since its founding in 2015. With this funding, the startup has opened 13 developments across four metros: Chicago, New York, San Francisco area, and Washington, D.C.)
While it’s too early to claim any of these budding businesses as a resounding success, the co-living craze is the latest example of the startup world looking to shake up the slow-to-evolve, $228 trillion (yes, trillion! tinyurl.com/REworth) global real estate market. Whether it’s Google, WeWork, or Airbnb—or countless other startups and tech firms—it is clear that investors see colossal dollar signs tied to disrupting the tried-and-true real estate and construction markets.
Will your firm join them?
Related Stories
Architects | May 9, 2017
Movers + Shapers: The social connector
Studio Gang gains fans with buildings that unite people and embrace the outside world.
Sponsored | Building Team | May 8, 2017
The builder is the building: Finding the right builder
The most important factor in making sure the where, when, what, and how go smoothly is making sure you pick the right who.
Architects | May 3, 2017
Avoiding trouble in paradise: Tips on building successfully in the Caribbean
The island setting itself is at the root of several of these disruptive assumptions.
Libraries | Apr 7, 2017
Eight recipients selected for the 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
Columbus Metropolitan Library, National Library of Latvia, and Varina Area Library were all honored by the AIA and ALA.
K-12 Schools | Apr 7, 2017
Is an alternative project delivery method right for your K-12 school district?
With California’s increasingly busy—and costly—construction market, it’s becoming more difficult to predict costs with a typical design-bid-build delivery method.
Market Data | Apr 6, 2017
Architecture marketing: 5 tools to measure success
We’ve identified five architecture marketing tools that will help your firm evaluate if it’s on the track to more leads, higher growth, and broader brand visibility.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Apr 5, 2017
Informed design: A dynamic approach to athletic facilities design
With the completion of the athletic facility upgrade—dubbed the Arden Project—students will have access to state-of-the-art facilities.
Building Team | Apr 4, 2017
Dispelling five myths about post-occupancy evaluations
Many assume that post-occupancy (POE) is a clearly-defined term and concept, but the meaning of POE in practice remains wildly inconsistent.
Office Buildings | Apr 4, 2017
Amazon’s newest office building will be an ‘urban treehouse’
The building will provide 405,000 sf of office space in downtown Seattle.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 31, 2017
The cost of activating a new facility
Understanding the costs specifically related to activation is one of the keys to successfully occupying the new space you’ve worked so hard to create.
