Smartworks leases 200,000 sq ft in Pune co-working centre

With seven centres, Smartworks has a total footprint of around 1.4 million sq ft with over 25000 seats in Pune.

The companies who have taken up space, including Pune-based MAN Trucks India Pvt Ltd (400 seats), are from sectors such as information technology (IT), banking and financial services and manufacturing

Bengaluru: Managed office space provider Smartworks has leased around 200,000 sq ft to five companies in its new flexible workspace centre in suburban Pune’s Baner area.

This is part of the Noida based office operator’s newly launched, 560,000 sq ft co-working centre M-AGILE, which will have 8500 seats, one of the largest in the city.

The companies who have taken up space, including Pune-based MAN Trucks India Pvt Ltd (400 seats), are from sectors such as information technology (IT), banking and financial services and manufacturing. The centre, which is Smartworks’ seventh in Pune, is scheduled to be operational in September.

The company didn’t disclose the names of the other tenants. Property advisory JLL facilitated the transaction.

Companies across the country are increasingly looking to set up distributed offices for their employees during the ongoing pandemic, leading to higher demand for flexible workspaces where investment is lower than traditional offices.

“It has been a high growth trajectory for us in Pune in the last three years. Our growth has been driven by customer requirements for flexible office spaces that support collaboration, innovation and productivity,” said Neetish Sarda, founder, Smartworks.

“We are excited about this new location as it’s the largest in our portfolio and the flex office space segment. As the largest managed office space provider to sector agnostic enterprises, global MNCs, unicorns and soonicorns, our focus is not just to offer them workspaces but a standardised and engaging office experience with value-added services and benefits in a campus-like infrastructure,” Sarda added. “We expect companies to bring back their employees in a phased manner, by January.”

With clients eyeing distributed workspaces across locations to adapt to the new normal, Smartworks said it aims to be a catalyst to fulfil their growth journey.

With seven centres, Smartworks has a total footprint of around 1.4 million sq ft with over 25000 seats in Pune.

“Flex space stock has grown in Pune by over four times from 0.7 million sq ft in 2017 to 3 million sq ft in 2021 and has always presented a huge growth opportunity. With M-AGILE being in Baner, one of Pune’s most progressive areas, we were sure that will be a milestone transaction for the industry. Going forward, we expect the flex space market in Pune to reach 5 million sq ft by 2022, driven by increased demand from large enterprises.” said Sanjay Bajaj, managing director -Pune, logistics and industrial, India, JLL.

Smartworks provides digitally enabled managed office spaces that can be configured and customised in just four to six weeks according to the needs of the enterprise clients, offering solutions at a value price point without upfront capital expenditure.

It has an overall footprint of over 4 million sq ft, with 31 centres across nine cities -Delhi, Noida, Gururgram, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata.