Smartworks Coworking Spaces, a Haryana-based managed office and flexible workspace provider, is set to redefine India’s flexible workspace market with its upcoming 8.1 lakh sq ft Eastbridge campus in Vikhroli, which will be the world’s largest managed office campus.
The facility, expected to be operational by mid-to-end 2026, will accommodate over 10,000 professionals, signalling the company’s shift towards large, self-contained office ecosystems catering to enterprise and GCC clients.
Founder and CEO Neetish Sarda said the project will double Smartworks’ Mumbai footprint to over 2 million sq ft, making it a strategic bet in one of the country’s tightest commercial markets. He noted that Smartworks’ model of taking up large standalone buildings and converting them into full-service campuses helps the company scale faster while keeping costs low.
The new property will likely see premium pricing, given its location and positioning as a Grade-A managed workspace. Smartworks’ break-even point is around 60–65% occupancy, typically achieved within 8–10 months, with mature centres operating above 90% occupancy levels.
The current market capitalisation of the company stands at around ₹6,589.62 crore.
Below are the edited excerpts of the interview.
Q: Smartworks leases 8.1 lakh square feet of office space from Niranjan Hiranandani in Vikhroli. Tell us the rationale behind this. When does it come on stream? What are the lease rates that you expect? What will be the incremental annual recurring revenue that you expect from this? How does this fit into your overall plan?
A: I think Eastbridge is not just another centre for Smartworks — it’s a statement. It’s the world’s largest managed campus platform that is opening up in India. We’re not just following global trends; we’re setting them in India by launching such large campuses, which have not been replicated anywhere in the West.
Eastbridge, strategically, is a bet that Smartworks has taken in the Vikhroli area. It’s an 800,000-plus sq ft building, which will have more than 10,000 people working in it once fully occupied. The building is expected to be handed over to us by the builder around the middle or end of next year.
Our typical journey takes about 10 to 12 months for the building to reach a steady state, which will be the case for this one as well. I cannot comment on the revenue numbers, but what I can say is that this has doubled our footprint in Mumbai. We started the year with only 500,000 sq ft of space in Mumbai. With Navi Mumbai being leased a couple of months back, our footprint increased to over a million sq ft. Now, with this asset, our total footprint in Mumbai has crossed 2 million sq ft.
This demonstrates how Smartworks has created a model that allows us to scale up rapidly. What sets us apart is our ability to take up large individual buildings, turn them into world-class campuses, provide all the amenities to large enterprise clients, and create an ecosystem in which they can grow — not just in one city but across the country.
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Q: What kind of occupancy are you expecting in the next 12 to 15 months for this project? On average, how much occupancy is required for break-even — is 65 to 70% appropriate?
A: Closer to about 60 to 65% is when we reach the break-even mark because we take up these large campuses and fill them with mid to large enterprise clients. On average, a customer coming to Smartworks commits to more than 300 seats.
For us to achieve that 60–65% occupancy typically takes 8–10 months, after which we reach a steady-state occupancy post maturity, at around 12–14 months. All our mature centres across India currently operate above 89–90% occupancy, and some of the centres we took up last year have reached similar levels.
We expect a comparable trend with this centre, given the demand — particularly from GCC inflows and large enterprises expanding. With low vacancy levels across major micro-markets in India, we are seeing strong demand for this region too.
Q: Is this going to be premium pricing? This would be a Grade-A office space. Even if you can’t share numbers, directionally, will this be incrementally positive for your overall revenue per seat and margins?
A: It is definitely going to be a premium centre, primarily because of the location. Mumbai generally has more front offices — corporate headquarters are usually based here — so spending power is higher. You will see premium pricing compared to other growing markets across India.
This property is increasing our footprint by 800,000 sq ft, which is about 8–9% of our current footprint. It will significantly boost both revenues and opportunities from this building.
In terms of costs, because of the scale we operate at, we’ve been able to reduce our overall cost to serve customers. The larger the building, the lower the cost per customer. Keeping both factors in mind, this will help increase both our top line and bottom line. Within the next 12–13 months, this will be significantly reflected in our revenues.
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Q: As things currently stand, what is the total area managed by you, and what does the pipeline look like?
A: We manage a little over 12 million sq ft across the country. When we went public a few months back, we were closer to 10 million sq ft, so we’ve already added a significant amount to our portfolio.
Our occupancies are very healthy, and we expect them to remain so. What sets us apart is our ability to take up large buildings and convert them — something that makes Smartworks unique.
With over 12 million sq ft of space, we now have 68 centres catering to over 730 customers. The average size of our centres and customers is much larger than the industry average. Our model of taking up large campuses, filling them with enterprises, GCCs, and front offices, makes us unique and enables faster growth than anyone else in the sector.
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