Mangaluru: City’s plug-and-play coworking market has expanded sharply over the past year, with industry stakeholders estimating that the coastal city added nearly 5,000 seats in the last 12 months. With another 4,000 seats expected to come on stream over the next year, operators and real estate developers say demand is being driven by Mangaluru’s growing profile as an IT destination, and the early-stage expansion plans of companies testing the market.Rohith Bhat, Silicon Beach Programme founding member and founder of WrkWrk, 99Games and Robosoft, said the city currently has over 8,000 seats, with a significant portion of capacity added recently. Work is under progress to add another 4,000 seats over the next one to two years across city limits. The pipeline, he added, reflects strengthening momentum in the district’s IT sector, with more established IT companies planning to set up offices in Mangaluru and discussions under way.Alongside capacity growth, the past year has also seen a shift in who is building and operating coworking facilities. Industry insiders said that where the market earlier had only three to four key players, nearly five new stakeholders have entered in the last year, including three established real estate firms. Developers such as Rohan Corporation, Bhandary Builders, and Land Trades Builders and Developers have forayed into managed workspaces, expanding the range of options for companies looking for ready-to-move offices as well as startups seeking smaller, flexible footprints.Srinath Hebbar of Land Trades said the company has launched an 85-seat coworking zone as a pilot within one of its premises. He said the next phase involves constructing a three-floor coworking facility, with each floor planned for about 120 to 140 workspaces, taking the total built-up area to around 25,000 sqft. Phase completion is planned in stages, with the first floor targeted for completion by Sept.Gurudatta Shenoy, managing partner at Mukund MGM Realty, Vertex Managed Workspace, traced the market’s evolution over the last six years. He said that earlier the city had two to three players with fewer than 2,000 seats in total, while today Mangaluru has nearly 10 coworking players. Vertex currently leads with around 4,400 seats, while Wrkwrk has about 2,000, he said, adding that total available capacity is over 8,000 seats, with another 4,000 in the pipeline expected within a year.DB Mehta, president-elect of CREDAI Karnataka, said Mangaluru is seeing stronger IT traction, including interest from global capability centres. He said many are starting with smaller teams, but with plans to scale, and that the workspace growth that began about two years ago is now being supported by real estate players focusing on IT-friendly buildings and managed office formats.
