Co-living spreads its wings in New York

Group living arrangements are not new: Many people have lived with roommates, in student dormitories or retirement homes. But with housing costs skyrocketing in major cities and amid changing lifestyles, start-up companies are offering to take care of everything for renters, including the social life of their residents. Demand for these new group housing arrangements is on the rise, especially among young people aged 18 to 35 -- the millennials -- so more and more projects are appearing on the rental landscape. Real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield estimated in May that the major US coliving start-ups had about 3,200 rooms available with 16,700 in the pipeline. The new players include Quarters, Common, Ollie, Starcity, X Social Communities, The Collective and WeLive. Quarters manages three residences in New York and Chicago and is preparing to grow quickly. Its German-based parent company, Medici Living, just raised $300 million to expand in the US market, in addition to one billion euros to develop in Europe. From the virtual tour to the signing of the lease, everything can be done online. Then "you just move in with a suitcase," since units are furnished. The companies also reduce many traditional sources of friction between roommates by taking care of all the practical details: basic products such as toilet paper, cleaning, Internet or electricity bills.