The latest event in the Innovators & Disrupters Series took the ULI Young Leaders to ‘The Collective Old Oak’ to learn all about co-living. We were lucky to have Reza Merchant, CEO, share his entrepreneurial story from a small agency with a few friends up to small refurbishment projects and now the innovative development and management company he has built today. The 550-bed building has only been open for a few months and is already at 70% occupancy.

Reza mentioned that the average stay at one of their sites is about a year and a half, which is perhaps longer than you may expect. I can imagine this product type would be perfect for people on secondments anywhere from three months to a year that want a plug & go lifestyle with an instant social life. Right now the minimum stay is 9 months, but I can imagine the sweet spot might be 3-6 months in the future. In terms of international expansion, Reza said The Collective will look to expand in “the world’s greatest cities for the creative and ambitious” – their target market.

Following a lively Q&A with plenty of questions from the 40 person crowd, we were broken up into smaller groups to visit the rooms. We visited a two-bed sharer room. Each room has its own shower and there is a small kitchenette the pair share. The room (most around 10 sq.mt.) may be a bit small if you intend to be in London over the medium to longer-term, as you collect more belongings, but for shorter term (say 1-2 years) it works very well. Each resident also has access to a larger kitchen and common room with different themes on each floor. I really liked the Spa Room with a sauna and massage beds. You can order a mobile masseuse to meet you there!

In total there are about 20 people working on site including 12 cleaners! I particularly loved that there are three full time community managers who ensure tenants are happy and engaged with a variety of events, as shown in the weekly calendar. The building must be really lively on Friday evenings when drinks for residents are all free!

We enjoyed some delicious pizza and drinks in the on-site restaurant. It was one of the unseasonably warm September days, so we were very happy that there was a canal-side patio.

Words by Emilie Walker