Australia’s First Coworking And Hotel Club Kafnu Set To Open, With More Sites On The Radar

Australia’s first coworking space with integrated hotel accommodation, Kafnu in Sydney’s Alexandria, is set to open in December, but that has not slowed its Singapore-based parent company Next Story Group from hunting for more sites Down Under. Taking up two levels within a three-storey building in the Dexus-owned 1.9-hectare business estate The Mill, the Kafnu complex at 41-45 Bourke Road will house 16 hotel rooms, coworking spaces, seven meeting rooms and private offices. Other amenities include a gin and local craft beer bar, a virtual fitness studio, a media production studio, meditation room, phone booths, kitchen area and an events space in the atrium. The opening of Kafnu comes at a time when competition in the space is ramping up – especially in Sydney and Melbourne – with operators increasingly seeing the value of including hospitality elements to set themselves apart from rivals. The fitout, which has largely been completed, had a $5 million budget, City of Sydney council records show. Kafnu Alexandria’s general manager Simon Hall told media that the company is targeting a different user from other coworking companies. “We’re not doing just coworking, we’re doing a private members’ club where you can go work in, socialise and collaborate with other members, so we’re not setting ourselves into that space because a slightly different person’s going to join here (compared with someone) who’s going to join just a coworking space, for example,” he said. “Our structure is very different; you can’t drop in and work, it’s a members’ club.