Smartworks to invest Rs 100 crore to expand presence in NCR

NEW DELHI: Smartworks, the home-grown shared office space provider, will invest up to Rs 100 crore in expanding its presence in the national capital region (NCR), its founder Neetish Sarda told ET.

The company is in the final stages of acquiring 5 lakh sq ft in NCR.

“We are seeing a lot of traction in Noida so more than 90% of our future inventory will come in Noida. Our existing building is almost fully occupied so we are on the lookout for fresh property. The new asset should be ready by October,” said Sarda.

According to a Knight Frank report, co-working operators took up spaces selectively across NCR in H2 2020.

From a 3% share in H1 2020’s total leasing, it increased to 12% in H2 2020.

Smartworks acquires the entire building and converts it into a coworking campus, unlike other coworking operators that usually acquire a floor or portions of a commercial building.

The company plans to have 3 million square feet of office space in NCR in three years.

“There is a lot of demand for shared space for the last few months. We have seen double-digit growth in leasing in nine cities we are present in. We expect this trend to continue and that is why we have aggressive plans for expansion,” said Sarda.

Co-working operators established office footprints in Delhi in locations such as Okhla and Defence Colony.

In Gurugram, it was Udyog Vihar, Qutub Plaza and Sector-45 that attracted coworking players.

According to a report by property consultant JLL, irrespective of several short-term disruptions and challenges, increased demand from large enterprises, will support the growth of the flex space market to more than 50 mn sq ft by 2023.