- With their soft launch in January 2019, Co-Coon Co-Living KL is one of the first movers within the coliving industry in Malaysia.
- The coliving space was developed by Tan & Tan Developments Berhad and they have spent approximately RM60 million to build up the 20-storey space.
Owning a home nowadays isn’t a walk in the park. With sky high prices and low salaries, millennials aren’t in a hurry to own homes as it will be a burden to them.
According to a report by The Edge, although it’s been said that property developers have been churning out houses at a healthy rate over the years, there has also been a rising number of unsold properties.
The total number of unsold residential properties has been rising since 2011, spiking sharply in 2016–2017 according to statistics from the National Property Information Centre. The situation is especially true in city areas like Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Pulau Pinang.
A dilemma occurs when there’s too many homes but people still can’t afford them. To relieve the property glut, coliving spaces have begun to pop up around Malaysia to make full use of unutilised spaces.
Although the coliving concept is relatively new in Malaysia, there have already been a number of first movers in the market, and one of them is Co-Coon Co-Living KL located at Damai Residence, Kuala Lumpur.
Hassle-Free Living
According to the team behind Co-Coon, they explained that the space is an innovative accommodation concept that offers all of the perks of living right in the heart of the city along with the added bonus of a hassle free, community-based collaborative living arrangement.
Soft launched in January 2019 by Tan & Tan Developments Berhad, the team explained that the space centers on the idea of “Community 2.0”.
“It is a new style of a ‘plug and play’ apartment building that offers shared work and play spaces supported by living spaces of differing sizes,” explained Tan Yee Seng, the CEO of Tan & Tan Developments Berhad.
The plug and play model basically means that one bill pays for all basic living costs and there are flexible leases starting at three months all the way to over a year.
He also added that the recent proliferation of coworking spaces indicated that millennials now have a new approach to their working lifestyle, and Co-Coon hopes to complement that mobile lifestyle.
Co-Coon spans over 20 floors with a total of 174 rooms and facilities / amenities such as:
- Indoor and outdoor gym
- Shared kitchen and dining area
- Communal lounge
- Library
- Open office spaces
- Meeting rooms
- Discussion/breakout areas
- Sky deck
- Barbecue pit
- Yoga/meditation zone
A stay at one of their rooms starts at RM800 per month with a minimum lease of 3 months.
When asked what it means to work and live in a coliving space, Yee Seng said, “It means living, working, and playing in a community of like-minded individuals.”
“It’s about being part of a community of residents who share living experiences through the duration of their residency in Co-Coon,” he continued.
Early Mover Advantage
“As we are the First-To-Market and operate a coliving accommodation on a professional scale, the biggest challenge was trying to figure out a workable coliving concept which would appeal to our target audience,” he said.
As improvement will always be a constant for them, the Co-Coon team will continue to focus on fine tuning the concept to have something that is both locally and globally appealing to their target audience.
As for their target audience, they’re targeting a large group of people from young adults to foreigners.
“We feel passionately that Co-Coon is an ideal housing arrangement that allows young adults to explore life outside from the family house,” he said. “This gives them a valuable opportunity to grow into independent young adults within an ecosystem that is safe, positive, and filled with like-minded individuals sharing similar life stage experiences.”
For foreigners, they’re marketing the space as a way for foreigners to get to know the city more and make friends through a social network.
And lastly, they’re targeting the mobile workforce as the coliving space is an ideal choice for them as there are also coworking spaces available and residents can use it without any extra charges.
Although they have spent approximately RM60 million for the entire building and the concept is still new locally, they have high ambitions and expect to be cash flow positive after 12 months.
Ultimately, Co-Coon Co-Living KL might sound like a hotel or hostel but Yee Seng sees it in a completely different light.
“Co-Coon is an accommodation where multiple people live together and enjoy the benefits of collaborative and communal living through shared spaces,” he explained.
“Co-Coon is all about city living, made easy.”
Tan Yee Seng, CEO of Tan & Tan Developments Berhad.
Yee Seng understands that there is competition out there, but he said that those are small and privately owned accommodations whereas Co-Coon is a professionally-managed coliving space.
They even go the extra mile to ensure that like-minded individuals join the space by having a two step interview process for potential residents.
“Co-Coon hosts a community manager whose scope of work beyond filtering and managing residents issues includes scheduling curated activities and events according to the interests of the residents to help Co-Cooners get-to-know and bond with each other,” he explained.
With their priority in successfully establishing the brand name among potential residents either local and foreign, he added that they will consider expanding the Co-Coon brand name to key urban centres depending on how the market reacts and where their target audience are.
Co-Coon Co-Living KL is planning to officially launch in April 2019.
- If you would like to know more about Co-Coon Co-Living KL, you can check out their website here and social media here.
Feature Image Credit: Co-Coon Co-Living KL
