You&Co IMPZ

769 rooms and shared kitchens: coliving under strata title tested in Dubai Production City

The brochure for You&Co IMPZ advertises 769 rooms spread across three buildings. That's a large number for a format that was still rare in Dubai at launch, back in 2021. SOL Properties built the project with Vertical, under the YouCo brand, and markets it as the largest coliving scheme in the emirate. This is not a standard residential tower carved into studios. A good share of the layouts pair private bedrooms with a shared kitchen and dining room, shifting the living space toward communal areas. Handed over in July 2022, the complex can now be judged on what actually stands rather than on renders.

Three buildings linked by a 1,000 sqm podium

Each building has nine levels: a ground floor plus eight residential storeys. The height stays modest, on the low end for Dubai Production City, where several neighbours top twenty floors. What sets the masterplan apart is the shared base. A podium bridges the three buildings and carries a public area of over 1,000 sqm, roughly one and a half tennis courts according to the developer. This layout funnels resident traffic into one spot, which is exactly the point of a coliving concept.

Four layouts, three of them with a shared kitchen

The studio (31.4 to 34.1 sqm) is the only fully self-contained format, with a bed, desk, sofa, kitchenette and bathroom. Next come the "Share for 2" (60.4 sqm) and the "Up for 2 VIP" (68.9 to 69.9 sqm), which join two units around a shared kitchen and dining corner. The "Meet Up 3" (73.5 to 82.6 sqm) takes the idea further with three units. The sales materials describe these as two and three bedroom units, but they should be read as organised flatshares, not family apartments. For an investor, the real question is renting by the room, with the management load that comes with it.

1,500 sqm of workspace and four rooftop terraces

The so called "WE" space is the actual product here. It holds 1,500 sqm of flexible work areas, with quiet and loud zones, a glass meeting room, hammocks and a bar. On top of that there are four podcast recording booths, green screen film studios, two low lit lounges and workshops for painters and potters. The four rooftop terraces house a yoga studio, a CrossFit room, a shisha bar, a café and a hall for conferences and concerts. At ground level, the pool comes with a DJ console and a five metre screen. Cleaning, 24 hour concierge and high speed internet are all included in the rent, which adds to the owner's running costs.

A multi owned building sold through a single channel

You&Co IMPZ is held on a freehold basis and owned by a large number of individual investors, whereas most coliving schemes worldwide belong to a single owner. Sales run exclusively through the You&Co sales desk. Buyers can choose between guaranteed income programmes and plans tied to the actual performance of the operation. The brochure put annual returns at 6 to 11%, paid in dollars, a figure worth checking against actual occupancy rates since 2022. The model leaves the owner dependent on the operator, and that's the first thing to scrutinise.

A media free zone between Motor City and JVT

Dubai Production City is a free zone built around publishing, television and the arts, which supplies a steady pool of young professionals and freelancers. The complex sits between Jumeirah Golf Estates, Motor City and Jumeirah Village Triangle, with City Centre Me'aisem close by. The developer quotes ten minutes to Expo City and twenty minutes to Dubai Marina. The twenty minutes given for Dubai International Airport (DXB) looks optimistic outside off peak hours. Jebel Ali Port is 17 km away, and Al Maktoum Airport remains the other hub worth watching.

Promised for November 2021, delivered in July 2022

The brochure set completion for 8 November 2021, timed to coincide with the opening of Expo 2020 that October. Actual handover came in July 2022, about eight months later. That delay stays within reason for a project launched just as the pandemic was winding down. It also means the Expo window, which part of the original pitch relied on, was missed. Today's buyer, though, has three years of real operating history to look at, which counts for more than any projection.