Co-working firm Awfis ties up with Nucleus Office Parks to set up 450-desk centre in Mumbai

New Delhi: Co-working operator Awfis on Tuesday said it has partnered with Blackstone group firm Nucleus Office Parks for a new centre in Mumbai with a seating capacity of 450.

In a statement, Awfis said it has opened its first premium category centre 'Awfis Gold' in Mumbai.

This centre has been launched in partnership with Nucleus Office Parks, the operating platform for fully-owned Blackstone offices in India, it added.

The centre is spread across 27,000 square feet with 450 seats and is located at One International Center, Lower Parel.

Awfis Founder & CEO Amit Ramani said, "Given the rising demand of co-working spaces, Awfis Gold will emerge as the premium partner of choice for enterprises and CXOs who are now looking towards a hybrid model of working." Currently, Awfis has 10 Gold centres spread across 3.5 lakh square feet in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Awfis has 131 centres and 77,500 seats across 14 cities. It plans to expand to 200 centres by the end of 2022.

The demand for managed office spaces in co-working centres has improved in the last one year as corporates want flexibility.

Recently, real estate consultant CBRE came out with a survey suggesting that nearly 75 per cent of office space occupiers are evaluating hybrid working models as their real estate strategy.

Around 78 per cent of the occupiers surveyed have underlined employee health and wellbeing as the most important element while facilitating return to office.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE said, “Return to Office for several corporates in India is already underway, with varying occupancies currently observed across cities as well as sectors." With the widespread adoption of hybrid working since the pandemic, he said many companies are still considering the degree of flexibility needed to enhance employee productivity and connectivity.

Property consultant Colliers and co-working marketplace Qdesq, in a joint report, said that flex workspace stock would rise to 60.8 million square feet in metro and non-metro cities by 2023 from 43.8 million square feet at the end of the September 2021.

There are more than 3,000 co-working centres across major cities.

In India, the major co-working, including managed office space, operators are WeWork, Awfis, Smartworks, The Executive Centre, Simpliwork Offices, 91Springboard, Skootr Global and The Office Pass, among others.