Enter Coliving continues to grow in Barcelona and aims for 500 rooms by the end of the year.
The partnership with New Amsterdam Developers is boosting the portfolio volume of the flex living operator, which will add 180 rooms in October across four buildings recently acquired by the Dutch fund in the Catalan capital.
Enter Coliving continues to expand its portfolio in Barcelona. The flex living operator aims to manage 500 rooms by the end of the year, up from the current 360 units, which would represent a 40% increase in its current portfolio during the second half, according to Erwin Groenendijk, co-founder and CEO of Enter Coliving, in a statement to EjePrime.
This exponential growth in supply is based on the partnership that Enter Coliving signed at the beginning of the year with New Amsterdam Developers, a real estate company that acquires assets in the Catalan capital for the operator to manage. The agreement already allowed Enter Coliving to add 27 rooms earlier this year in a building on Santa Madrona Street. Between September and October, the operator will add 180 rooms across four buildings recently acquired by New Amsterdam Developers.
Specifically, the real estate company has acquired two buildings located in the Born district, in Ciutat Vella: the first is located on Rec Comtal Street and has a total of forty rooms. The second is located on Sant Agustí Vell Street and adds another forty units. The other two properties are located in areas adjacent to Avenida Diagonal: at number 60 on Buenos Aires Street, with ninety rooms, and at number 94 on Enric Granados Street, with forty rooms.
"We remain focused on Barcelona because we believe the city's coliving market is just beginning, and there is still plenty of room to grow," says Groenendijk, who also points out that, in the medium term, the subsector will tend towards consolidation, at which point the operator will consider inorganic growth.
"The market will consolidate because a large number of players are entering the market; when that happens, we want to be there, as we have the capacity to acquire other companies if the opportunity-price ratio is right," the executive states, also noting his willingness to enter Valencia and Madrid in the short term. "We have been offered buildings to manage in both cities," notes the CEO of the operator.
After recording a turnover of 1.8 million euros in 2022, Enter Coliving expects to increase its revenue by 66% this year, to three million euros. The operator bases its forecasts on the strong pace of new units added to its portfolio, predicting that the 2023 EBITDA will reach 650,000 euros, 78% higher than last year. Enter Coliving currently operates at full occupancy, with an average of 690 euros per month per room.
In the medium term, the company aims at two levers to continue driving its activity. "One is to grow apartment by apartment, which is the acquisition business we know well, and the second is to add new supply with the newly renovated buildings from New Amsterdam Developers," highlights Groenendijk, aiming for a portfolio of 1,000 rooms by 2026, with the goal of "continuing to occupy the number one position in coliving in Barcelona," the executive emphasizes.