Starting over in a city is exciting, and if it is Valencia, the city that was crowned the best city to live in according to the Internations ranking even more. But moving to a new city also presents some challenges: the language, choosing a place to live, moving your company, tax implications, connecting with like-minded people, etc.
With the arrival of coworking and coliving, these challenges are smoothly tackled. We know what coworking is, but what about coliving? Isn’t that just housing for students? Not at all, and today we will explain better.
What is coliving?
The implementation of the coworking model in Spain has paved the way for the next revolution in the new Life & Work models: coliving. A new term for many, coliving is basically defined as a community-focused residential solution, in the same way, that coworking is a community-focused office solution.
Coliving originated in Silicon Valley when there was a housing shortage that collided with the multiplication of young professionals who came to San Francisco wanting to connect and socialize. And that’s when buildings began to appear in which tenants not only shared common areas but also shared a lifestyle.
In short, coliving is an evolution of coworking in the housing market, which not only offers a space to live but also offers services designed for day-to-day needs, as well as common spaces and activities for residents to enhance the exchange of life experiences.
Types of coliving
Like coworking which originated as a collaboration where professionals who shared the office also shared management tasks, to later evolve into a business managed by a dedicated team, coliving is housing managed by a dedicated team that focuses on offering the best user experience possible; and, as in coworking that has diversified into many types of workspaces and environments to cater to a wider range of professionals that have different needs, coliving is also branching out into different types, depending on the features, style and services on demand. So today we have:
- Coliving Cluster: shared house where individual rooms are rented and the rest of the common areas of the house are shared, such as kitchen, bathroom, living room, etc. A student residence or a regular shared house, for example, could fit into this type of coliving.
- Coliving 2.0: building is structured in independent private apartments of 30 / 50m2 each, and common areas and services in the building are designed for the type of resident to whom the coliving is directed.
A students residence could be understood as a Cluster-type coliving designed for students, if there is an approach, a design and a philosophy in the management of the students residence that inspires people to connect. But a coliving is not a student residence.
A coliving can also be a building composed of independent apartments of about 50 m2 that allow a totally independent life, in a building with common areas and services designed for a specific coliver profile; for example, considering a professional between 30 – 40 yro: coffee place, juice bar, restaurants, laundry service, gym and spa, garden areas, calendar of events, etc. The profile of coliver, in this case, would be someone who wants to have all these exclusive benefits within reach (and is willing to pay for it) and at the same time be surrounded by like-minded people and opportunities to connect with.
An elderly home could also take a coliving focus, in the cool sense of the word. Who has not fantasized with friends, that when entering an age when one does not feel like managing a house, then get together and live in a serviced house? Reading meetings, card games, dance classes, massages, etc. Sounds cool? That might become the Coliving 3.0.
There is a trend to value experiences far more than material possessions. For this reason, all these new ways of working and living, more focused on service and experience, have the whole future ahead of them and infinite ways to develop.
Implantation in the world
Although more and more presence of this type of cohabitation can be found in large cities (Seattle, Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam, etc.) and coastal areas of reference for digital nomads (Bali, Costa Rica, etc.), in Spain it implementation is being slower.
In our country, the first coliving companies sprouted in 2015 in coastal areas, settling in the Canary Islands or Alicante. As for more urban projects, in Spain they recently started in Barcelona and Madrid (Urban Campus or Aticco).
Initially, these spaces arose for an audience between 20 – 30 years old, mainly for reasons of cost savings. But as happened with coworking, the sector is evolving towards coliving buildings aimed at another audience as well, for example, professionals between 30 – 40 years old who want to live independently, but at the same time enjoy benefits, get surrounded by a cool vibe, and have within reach possibilities to connect with like-minded people. With this trend that we are calling Coliving 2.0, Zoku emerged in Europe, Node in USA and UK, and many more.
Benefits of coliving 2.0
If you are tired of all the visits while looking for a flat, dealing with bills, supply contracts, and lease agreements, if you want to have the flexibility to change location (within a city or overseas), then coliving is an attractive and effective solution for you to leave to worry about these aspects. Benefits:
- Housing “Plug and Play”; ready to use and enjoy from minute one. Forget about the housing search, management of supply contracts, negotiation of the rental contract, decoration, etc.
- No barrier to entry: no real estate, moving costs or furniture purchase.
- “All-inclusive” model with cleaning service, electricity, water, gas, wifi, furniture, insurance, etc.
- Selection of boutique apartments, all under the same brand and standard. No surprises.
- Possibility of premium services: common areas, dry cleaning services, cafeteria, spa, etc.
- Surrounded by like-minded people, with similar lifestyles and interests.
- Oriented to the user experience with a team of professionals in the backstage
- Management team that guarantees both the correct functioning of the housing through the role of Space Manager.
- Management team that guarantees a focus on the community, through the role of Community Manager who is in charge of guiding and enhancing the calendar of activities.
- Flexibility: flexible rentals with periods ranging from stays for one night to stays for months.
And what disadvantages does it have?
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- Price: it is more expensive than a traditional rental in most cases since there is a management team dedicated to housing, it includes all services, it offers more flexibility, locations are premium and in high-demand neighborhoods, and include more quality benefits (common areas, swimming pool, calendar of activities, etc).
- If you are not sociable and you do not like being around people, you will not enjoy the added value that this lifestyle offers: the community. Also, the private space can be quite small in some cases.
In short, many colivings are located in unbeatable areas, offer first-rate facilities and social activities to promote community life and connections: the investment is worth it, don’t you think?
What do we offer at Vortex Coworking as ‘coliving’?
Thanks to our partners that are operators of boutique apartment buildings in Valencia, we launched the new coliving line offering our community curated serviced accommodation in their buildings; cozy and beautiful, in the best locations and less than 15 ‘walk from our workspaces, with a management team behind dedicated to customer experience.
And the community to connect with? In our workspaces, you will have access to a calendar of activities, and the possibility of connecting with a community of more than 100 professionals who work from our coworking spaces, both Vortex Coworking Playa and Vortex Coworking Centro.
With us, it has never been so easy to land in a new city like Valencia. Office, home and community from your first minute in Valencia. ‘Plug & Play’.