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Speakers and Panels

Financing Co-Living: Investment Realities For This Market

A deep dive into how the capital markets are viewing Co-Living.

Safinaz Zakaria

Safinaz Zakaria

Partner

Crosstree

Chris Saunders

Chris Saunders

Investment Director

DTZ Investors

Charlie Gaynor

Charlie Gaynor

Co-founder

Re:shape

Anil Khera

Anil Khera

Founder and CEO

Node

Sonia Wang

Sonia Wang

Director

Savills Capital Advisors

James Brant
Moderator

James Brant

Commercial Director, Europe

CRM Students

Safinaz Zakaria

Partner

Crosstree

Safi joined Crosstree in 2013 and is responsible for sourcing, execution and delivery of investments. Safi has worked on deals across most asset classes including office, retail, hotel, industrial, residential, co-living and student, investing across the capital stack. Prior to joining Crosstree, Safi was with Rothschild in the Real Estate and Leisure Investment Banking team. Safi holds an MA in Economics and Arabic from the University of Edinburgh.

Chris Saunders

Investment Director

DTZ Investors

Chris is the Investment Director for DTZ Investors UK Co-Living Fund (COLIV) which invests in large-scale co-living assets in Greater London. The Fund currently has over 800 co-living units across 3 assets, operated under DTZ Investors FOLK Co-Living brand. Chris has worked at DTZ Investors for 18 years and has undertaken a wide range of roles over this time. Having initially been appointed as the Head of Investment Strategy, Chris has gone on to manage both direct and indirect property portfolios for institutional clients across both traditional and alternative property sectors. Chris is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and previously worked as an investment strategist at LaSalle Investment Management.

Charlie Gaynor

Co-founder

Re:shape

Charlie is a co-founder of the Re:shape Living Group, an alternative living sector developer and operator in the UK. Charlie is responsible for funding and investment strategies, asset management and customer experience, branding, and marketing. Over the past 8 years, Charlie has led fundraising initiatives combining circa £750m of debt and equity and led the creation and delivery of new branded, living platforms. Charlie also holds a 1st Class Honours bachelor’s degree and a Real Estate master’s degree from CASS Business School.

Anil Khera

Founder and CEO

Node

Anil is Founder and CEO of Node, a global asset manager and operator of branded flexible living

communities in creative capital cities around the world. Our mission is to create beautiful urban spaces

with genuine community in a cost effective and convenient way. Node communities are currently located in

key gateway cities throughout North America and Europe, including London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona,

New York and Los Angeles. Node partners with institutional investors to create and manage 100-1,000 bed

flexible living, coliving and furnished apartment rental buildings. Approximately 3,000 beds are planned to

be operational in 2024, with a pipeline to expand to over 8,000 beds.

Anil is responsible for the overall management, investment activities and expansion of Node globally and is

based in London. Anil has worked in real estate for over 20 years in the US and Europe, including 11 years

at Blackstone, the world's largest private equity real estate firm. As a Managing Director at Blackstone in

London, Anil was involved in over $30 billion of acquisitions, financings, and dispositions. Anil created

Blackstone's European real estate capital markets group, was involved in creating its Indian real estate

team and helped create and successfully sell Nido Student Living, a £415m, 2,500 bed, European student

housing development and management platform. Prior to Blackstone, Anil worked in the acquisitions team

of DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners / Credit Suisse First Boston in Los Angeles.

Anil graduated with an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University and a BA from

the University of Waterloo in Canada. He has been listed in Property Week's Hot 100 and Top 40 Under 40.

Anil is the Chair of the GRI Global Co-Living Committee and is a member of ULI and the UKAA. Anil also

serves as Chair of The Lighthouse, a project to develop a dynamic faith-based community centre in London,

England.

Sonia Wang

Director

Savills Capital Advisors

Sonia is a Director in the Operational Capital Markets division at Savills, specialising in operationally backed real estate across the UK and Europe. Sonia’s expertise includes financial modelling and the underwriting of transactions including M&A, joint ventures and equity raises. In the last 24 months alone Sonia has worked on £3 billion of transactions.

James Brant

Moderator

CRM Students

James is currently the Commercial Director at CRM, a leading 3rd party operator in the shared living space. James has more than 10 years' experience in the shared living sector having managed over 10,000 beds both direct and indirectly via portfolio management. He’s been involved in the design of over 20,000 beds and is a leader in the industry in driving operational efficiency whilst maximising customer experience.

He began his career at iQ student accommodation, and has extensive experience working with institutional investors, as well as pension funds, private equity and developers.

James still thinks he can play football, so if you see him limping, the 11-a-side the weekend before probably didn’t go well!

Development And Operations: Creating And Managing Living Space For A New Era

Unpacking how to deliver, manage and service Co-Living accommodation amidst rising living costs.

Jill Ju

Jill Ju

CEO and Founder

True North Management

Riccardo Tessaro

Riccardo Tessaro

CEO and Co-Founder

Gravity Co-Living

Katherine Rose

Katherine Rose

Managing Director

VervLife

Maxime-Leufroy Murat

Maxime-Leufroy Murat

Co-Founder & CEO

Opago

Alex Gibbs

Alex Gibbs

Co-Founder and Director

Built Asset Management

Leo Colgan
Moderator

Leo Colgan

Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer

IMS

Jill Ju

CEO and Founder

True North Management

Jill Ju is the CEO and Founder of True North Management, a purpose-led real estate investment and management company focused on transforming traditional living spaces to better meet the needs of today's urban dwellers. A passionate advocate for innovation in the living sector, Jill leverages her extensive experience and unique insight to create environments that promote both personal growth and a strong sense of community.

Formerly Investment Director at Greystar and Chief Investment Officer at The Collective, she has an extensive track record in creating assets, brands and investment vehicles across PBSA, BTR and co-living sectors, and a passion for creating attainable, high-quality rental homes that enable mindful living.

True North recently announced the opening of its debut co-living property, Holm Wimbledon Park, in Southfields, London, featuring 86 studios and communal spaces to encourage both focused work and social interaction. And a pipeline to deliver 1,500 units in London over the next 3 years.

Riccardo Tessaro

CEO and Co-Founder

Gravity Co-Living

Riccardo is the CEO and Co-Founder of Gravity Co-Living.

Riccardo grew up in the North of Italy and at the age of 19, he moved to London to start a degree in financial management at Regents Business School. After graduating in 2012, Riccardo spent the following year working for a VC fund in Tel Aviv, where he fully experienced StartUp Nation and its entrepreneurial lessons.

After a year in Israel, Riccardo moved to Bangkok for 1 year where he worked for a US private equity fund investing in frontier markets across the ASEAN region.

Before setting up Gravity Co-Living, Riccardo worked between Hong Kong and London for 4 years for a real estate investment company focused on the UK PBSA and hotel sectors.

Katherine Rose

Managing Director

VervLife

Katherine is the Managing Director of VervLife; a specialist consultancy, operations and creative partner for the BTR and rented homes sector engaged on multi-family, single-family and co-living communities.

Working within BTR since its genesis in the UK, Katherine is an operational expert and has a keen focus on what shifting resident behaviours and lifestyles mean for the product being brought to market, how technology can be harnessed to drive operational effectiveness and the role of intelligent asset design in enhancing investor returns.

VervLife is BCorp Pending and is committed to lead standards of social value, resident wellness and planetary awareness in the rented residential sector.

Maxime-Leufroy Murat

Co-Founder & CEO

Opago

Maxime Leufroy-Murat is the founder and CEO of three forward-thinking and successful companies - Leufroy, City Relay, and Opago. Known for his leadership and knowledge in the property and property technology sectors, Maxime is a regular speaker at key events in the UK and Europe, sharing his thoughts about the property landscape and how the three companies can have a positive impact.

Alex Gibbs

Co-Founder and Director

Built Asset Management

Alex Gibbs is Co-founder and Director of BAM (Built Asset Management), London’s leading co-living operator. BAM has housed over 5,000 professionals living In London and provides over 1,200 units of professional accommodation in the capital and beyond.

In under eight years, Alex and his business partner bootstrapped BAM from a zero to eight figure turnover business in one of the UK’s most competitive sectors, now underwriting rental returns on over £300M worth of residential real estate.

A passionate entrepreneur, Alex has developed significant experience in scaling businesses as well acquiring both profitable and distressed SMEs. He is a recognised industry and business leadership media commentator and holds advisory roles within growing businesses spanning several sectors.

Leo Colgan

Moderator

IMS

Leo is Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer at IMS. For the past 20 years he has played a crucial role in the growth of the company with a client base now extending beyond Ireland into the UK and Europe; namely Germany, France, Italy & Switzerland with further projects in the pipeline for Portugal and Spain.

IMS is a trusted Wi-Fi and guest technology partner for hospitality and serviced living in Ireland, the UK, and Europe. With cutting-edge technology and expert support, IMS collaborates with their clients to create seamless, secure, and sustainable solutions that meet the evolving needs of guests, and are dedicated to delivering great guest technology experiences, leading to better reviews, repeat bookings, and growth in average daily rates.

IMS’ ability to design, deliver, and support has earned them the distinction of being the preferred provider for renowned hospitality brands including Staycity, Dalata, Frasers, Edyn, Radisson, and many more.

Creating Design Quality For Co-Living

Presentation by Hawkins\Brown

Greg Moss
Moderator

Greg Moss

Partner, Residential Sector Lead

Hawkins\Brown

Greg Moss

Moderator

Hawkins\Brown

Greg leads the Residential and Mixed-Use Sector at Hawkins\Brown. With over two decades of

experience across all scales and stages of residential design, he has worked extensively with

developers, housing providers and local authorities to lead numerous complex and high-profile

projects.

Greg has been working in the co-living sector for various clients since 2017 and led the design and

delivery of the Palm House in Harrow, the first purpose built co-living building in London. He has been

extensively involved in consultation with the GLA that has directly informed its forthcoming Large-

scale Purpose-built Shared Living policy guidance.

Opening Remarks

Jermaine Browne

Jermaine Browne

Co-founder

Re:shape

Jermaine Browne

Co-founder

Re:shape

Jermaine is a co-founder of the Re:shape Living Group, an alternative living sector developer and operator in the UK. Jermaine is responsible for Joint Ventures, planning and development activities, product design and execution, and ESG. Jermaine has worked in Real Estate for over 15 years and is recognised as one of the UK’s leading alternative living experts, having co-designed and secured planning permission for 10 co-living buildings, PBSA and hotels worth more than £800 million GDV across London and Dublin since 2018. Jermaine is also the founder and chair of the Second-Generation Shared Living Consortium (SGSLC), an industry body which exists to progress shared living policy across the UK.

Why This Matters

What You'll Learn:

  • Why investors are choosing co-living and the commercial opportunities and considerations around this sector.

  • The future pipeline of co-living schemes in the UK and where the opportunities are.

  • How demand, occupancy rates and tenure are being influenced by the current market and economic factors.

  • Meeting your target demographic’s needs through development, design and operational management.

  • Standing out from the competition, the technology and resident services creating unique living environments.

How You'll Do More Business: As housing pressures continue to grow in urban areas, the co-living market forms part of the solution to provide high-quality rental homes with a strong community appeal, significant tenure flexibility, and an all-inclusive cost. The co-living sector is attracting increasing investment. According to Savills, £540M of transactions were completed in the first half of 2022 and with an estimated 725,000 people in the UK who fall within the core target market, the sector is poised for huge growth. Hear from our expert speakers on what the real-life opportunities and challenges are of investing and developing into co-living, what the future holds for this rapidly growing sector, and how these schemes are being operated in order to fulfil resident needs and provide a unique experience.

Earlier in 2022, Bisnow launched a dedicated co-living newsletter and based on continued demand and interest from our event audience, we are excited to be curating our first event around this emerging sector. Join us for an informative morning event of dynamic and unforgettable content and dedicated networking sessions. With the largest audience of CRE professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than us. As always come early and stay late for ample networking — we'll see you there!

Questions about your ticket or booking? Reach out to customerservice@bisnow.com

For other questions, comments or press enquiries, email our UK Business Manager Freddie, at freddie.keyworth@bisnow.com

Share your comments, post your photos and ask questions using #BisnowEurope on Twitter and Instagram, and follow us at @BisnowEurope on Twitter for more local news.

The Rise Initiative

Bisnow is thrilled to announce the launch of The Rise Initiative in the UK, a programme focused on recognising organisations within commercial real estate that are committed to improving racial diversity through quantifiable action. Has your company set specific diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) goals, measured progress against them, keeping accountable to those goals? Learn more and submit your DEI programme to Rise by 14th April.

Venue

Leonardo Royal Hotel London City

8-14 Cooper's Row, London EC3N 2BQ


Get Directions

Agenda

Time Activity
7:00 AM
7:50 AM
Registration, Refreshments And Networking
7:50 AM
8:00 AM
Welcome! From Bisnow and re:shape
8:00 AM
8:40 AM
Financing Co-Living: Investment Realities For This Market - Presented by re:shape

A deep dive into how the capital markets are viewing Co-Living.

8:40 AM
8:50 AM
Creating Design Quality For Co-Living

Presentation by Hawkins\Brown

8:50 AM
9:30 AM
Development And Operations: Creating And Managing Living Space For A New Era

Unpacking how to deliver, manage and service Co-Living accommodation amidst rising living costs.

9:30 AM
10:00 AM
More Networking!

Sponsors

Bisnow Europe's Living Series

Throughout 2023, we are excited to be hosting a number of events focused on the living sector. Further details will be provided in due course but keep an eye out for:

  • June: Build To Rent Annual Conference (BTRAC) 2023

  • July: Student Housing Summit

  • September: Later Living Conference

  • October: Manchester's Living Sector Update

  • November: Affordable Housing Review

  • November: Ireland's Residential Investment And Development Conference 2023

Contact UK Market Manager, Toby on toby.carling@bisnow.com to find out how you can get involved!