Nickolas James, the group’s expansion director for the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the guest speakers at APPII’s (Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors) Annual Lunch, during its Great Conference (II Grande Conferência APPII), which took place last 11th of April within the wider context of Lisbon’s Urban Renewal Week (Semana da Reabilitação Urbana de Lisboa). At Sala do Risco, in Pátio da Galé, more than 200 guests were gathered for this lunch over one of the market’s most current subjects. Especially since coliving «is not just a trend, it’s already a reality», commented APPII’s executive VP, Hugo Santos Ferreira.
The group prepares its expansion through the brand Quarters, «a way of living in community, through a concept of deeper experience and proximity. We sell a housing solution that favors the housing market and we focus on mid and long-term stays», explained Hugo Santos Ferreira.
During the event, he recalled that the coliving market’s great momentum can be explained by a «greater migration to the cities», by the millenials’ greater prevalence, since they demand greater flexibility, by the sharing economy concepts or by the new forms of mobility, besides the greater demand for community spaces.
Quarters’s main clients are «digital nomads, young professionals and students», to whom it offers up to six rooms per accommodation unit. The concept is to «within the same space of a conventional building increase the amount of rooms available. Thus, we achieve a greater efficiency, optimize the apartments’ layouts, achieve a higher yield, more flexibility, a concept of community and lower costs for the tenants», explains Nickolas James.
Quarters already has coliving concepts in Chicago, New York and Berlin. It is one of the brands from German group Medici Living Group, together with Medici Living. Soon there will be more news about the group’s expansion into Portugal and Iberia.