Co-Living Operator Ties Up with AMTZ for 500 Bed-on-Campus Facility in Vizag
Curated Living Solutions, a co-living operator which is a part of the realty firm DivyaSree Group has partnered with Visakhapatnam based Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), which is a public-sector undertaking, to build a 500 bed-on-campus facility. This new bed-on-campus facility is expected to be operational by 2023. Curated Living Solutions have said that it will be investing ₹20 crores in the project, while the land will be provided by the state government of Andhra Pradesh.
Jai Kishan Challa, CEO of Curated Living said “We’ve also signed a built-to-suit agreement, a kind of PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model with a government PSU in Visakhapatnam, where we’ll be constructing 500 on-campus beds for their students. The project has already begun, and next year, operations should start.” According to him, the current land lease will be valid for 33 years and is renewable for another 2 terms. Curated Living has said that it will be maintaining & operating the facility for AMTZ. CEO of Curated Living, Mr, Challa also added that post pandemic, there has been more importance on hygiene in the co-living sector.
The demand for single-occupancy units/rooms has increased to more than 40% post-pandemic compared to 15% in 2019. This is primarily due to an increased focus on hygiene as everyone has noticed the result of unhygienic conditions or overcrowding due to the global pandemic caused by Covid-19. The company (Curated Living) is more focussed on the per bed sq. ft. area to improve design efficiency, not just to meet demand but also to determine density so that it can be ensured people have good access to basic necessities.
The company is also in advanced discussions with other universities and is seeking to finalise the deals by the next quarter, as it continues to bet big on student housing projects. CEO Challa said “In the National Capital Region, the focus would first be on acquiring some assets in Noida’s Knowledge Park, given it’s a large education hub. The company is exploring an opportunity to set up an off-campus facility there. We have tied up with Reva University in Bengaluru, where we provide our services (around 3,200 beds). In Pune, we have an off-campus student housing facility that serves multiple universities in the area, including Indira Institute, DY Patil, JSPM, and Symbiosis Skill Development University. We’ve also secured a few management contracts, one of which will begin on June 1st with Abhyasa International School in Hyderabad,”
Curated Living, which raised a $200-million fund to build an asset-heavy platform across its three verticals— student housing, industrial housing, and co-living segment—is targeting to increase its inventory to 30,000 beds across major cities over the next three years from the present 10,000. Its CEO has said that the company’s portfolio can be divided as 50% student housing, 40% co-living & 10% industrial housing. The current student housing market has a demand of more than 3.3 crore students – which is quite high and parents are ready to pay for a premium accommodation with hygienic living conditions.
The student housing market in India had a concurrent demand-supply of 80 lakh beds in India, which ensured new player had enough market room to grow into. Pre-covid, 85% of the student housing market was run by unorganised players such as private PGs & hostel accommodation. According to market research, almost ₹1,000 crores has been invested in the student housing segment – the pandemic caused a break in the momentum but the student housing segment is expected to grow again thanks to opening of new schools & colleges which directly creates more demand.
