Known for the ventures that mix compact apartments with shared spaces, the paulista construction company Vitacon innovates, once again, when launching “Housi”, a platform that gathers “apartments in the cloud”, which can be rented by the time that the user wants and without bureaucracy

For exactly ten years, the São Paulo real estate market has been offering options that are more consistent with the reality of singles, students, executives and childless couples from other cities that sought housing near work: compact apartments. Behind the installed projects, mostly in key regions of the city, such as Itaim Bibi, Vila Olímpia and Jardins, is the developer Vitacon, from the entrepreneur Alexandre Lafer Frankel.

Today, there are 70 of these buildings that combine apartments (from ten square meters) with shared environments such as laundry, coworking, gym and even kitchen. In addition, there are already more than 10,000 houses delivered, which makes the difference in the daily lives of many people in the capital.

The feeling of mission accomplished was present during the entire Frankel interview with CWS. “We were born to change people’s lives, and when I find a resident who tells me that we can improve his routine, it brings great satisfaction,” says the executive. “The community we create is the engine to continue innovating.”

Innovation, now, has no relation to bricks, plants or concrete. It has the support of an indispensable “material” today in any sector: technology. Recently, the company launched a service on demand, a kind of Netflix from the real estate market. This is the Housi, a platform that gathers decorated apartments, ready for “consumption”.

In it, the user can choose the apartment that best meets his needs, using it for hours, days or years. “Totally without bureaucracy and 100% digital,” Frankel says.

One-click apartment

Housi draws attention with ease. In up to three minutes, the user guarantees the lease. That is, the client of the platform can be in the lobby of the building, connect to the application and, in a few clicks, be released to enjoy all the facilities of the apartment. “If you want, he can just go with his body clothes,” he says. Unlike flats or hotels, in Housi’s ventures the coolness has no time. This is because the units are not standardized, vary in size (up to 100 m²) and are decorated and equipped as in a conventional apartment.

It also has no similarity to the Airbnb platform, since the process, as a whole, is much more agile. As with other applications, such as Rappi and iFood, the person pays for what he consumes, in this case, the “consumed goods” by means of a credit card integrated into the app.

Investing in apps, no doubt, was a good strategy. According to Cisco data, in 2022 there will be 615.5 million smartphones in Latin America, representing average annual growth of 8.7% since 2017.

Today, in Brazil, according to the 30th Annual survey of Administration and use of information technology in companies, held by Fundação Getúlio Vargas de São Paulo (FGV-SP), there are 230 million of them active. The number, in the near future, can reach 240 million.

High connectivity animates the executive, which already compares its platform to the phenomenon of transport applications. “Just as people say that ‘ they Uber ‘ to a certain place, they will refer to the platform as ‘ I Housi ‘,” Frankel says.

Scalable business model

For now, the 5000 units available on Housi comprise the city of São Paulo. But soon, the platform will contemplate large capitals, such as Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Salvador.

To make the business scalable, Vitacon will also feature ventures from other builders and developers, but will not leave their own projects behind. Contrary to this, a few months ago, the American fund 7 Bridges Capital Partners injected R$ 500 million in the creation of a joint venture with Frankel’s company.

Alexandre Lafer Frankel of Vitacon: The entrepreneur wants to revolutionize the real estate market. Photo: Disclosure

The investment, which will go exclusively to the Housi portfolio, provides for the construction of 3500 units in the city of São Paulo, with a potential of R$ 2 billion in launches in the next 12 months, and can reach R$ 10 billion in two years.

For Pollyana Mustaro, a technology specialist and professor at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, the platform tends to succeed in the country, especially with the most connected generations. “They have in their essence a kind of ‘ nomadism ‘ and they don’t want to work in a single company all their lives. With the changes of work, also occur the housing. The dream of the house itself is no longer something meaningful, “he says.

Technology in focus

Another topic that rounds the real estate sector is the question of smart houses and apartments. Homes, in fact, will have more and more devices of IoT (Internet of Things) integrated in different environments and with distinct functions.

Actions aimed at comfort, related to lighting and temperature, will walk side by side of those that highlight the aesthetics. “Screens in high definition on the walls, for example, will design paintings that are of the preference of residents or visitors, with the advantage of being able to change the figure when you want,” exemplifies Pollyanna. “It will also be possible to control the stock of food, as well as the validity, and carry out, automatically, the order, payment and delivery of goods.”

Alexandre Lafer Frankel also sees an imminent revolution in the sector, through initiatives and services coupled with the ventures. They’re even on Vitacon’s radar. But don’t think they’re going to be the Jetsons style. “The experience and solution are much more important than just automation. The connection has to be natural, “he says.

As an example, the executive highlights the connectivity of a coffee machine with the capsule provider. The intelligence will secure the supply as soon as the capsules reach the end. Similarly, cleaning an apartment, which can be requested according to the amount of “entrances” on site. Another possibility is the integration with urban mobility, which already occurs in some Vitacon ventures. “A resident, for example, may have different modes of transport available in the building,” he says.

In the future, with technologies integrated into an application, the app itself can enter as a decision taker when choosing a conventional or shared Uber, bicycle, scooter or subway, taking into account the climatic conditions, the distance and the Traffic at the moment. “The quantum leap in technology coupled with this new drive of ventures will be impressive. Most of the installed base will be out of date. It will be difficult for a person to want to live again in an asset that does not have all this technology, “he adds. “I see a development in the real estate market in the next five and ten years higher than the last 400.”

Vitacon’s buildings now have a partnership with service startups such as GrinYellowDog Hero and Singu. “We want to expand our performance with these partners more and more. This new ecosystem culture helps to foster more business and expand opportunities, “he analyzes.

All technologies and services have the central objective of strengthening the group’s community of residents. Even Vitacon’s ventures have become a kind of “neural network”. This is because locals can use the academies or coworkings of other buildings in order to optimize the time. “The idea is to simplify people’s lives, even.”

Entrepreneurial spirit

Technology has always been present in Frankel’s life – even if “hidden” between bricks and concrete. His first business, at the age of 17, does not deny: a startup of games. Years later, he graduated in civil engineering. “But my profession is enterprising,” he will soon warn. With much experience in the entrepreneurial baggage, the successes overlap the errors. Even in a moment of instability in the country, Vitacon has not stopped growing – thanks to the successes.

“The secret of advancement, no doubt, was to bet on two fundamental recipes: culture and people,” he adds. “Besides, we started investing before the market came back.”

While the year 2017 ended a series of eight consecutive quarterly falls in the São Paulo real estate market – initiated in the first quarter of 2015 and which lasted until the fourth quarter of 2016 -, Vitacon played the moment of recovery with a general value Sales (VGV) of R$ 830 million. In 2018, the jump was R$ 1.2 billion in launches. “The expectation for this is R$ 2.3 billion,” estimates Frankel, without putting into account the project that will be the flagship of the company in the future, the Housi.

Going against the expectations of all construction companies in the market, Vitacon wants to stop selling real estate until next year and focus on the management of the Housi base units. “Of course, sales are generally not going to end, but we, in the short term, will not sell anymore. Our great goal now is to provide housing on demand and revolutionize the real estate market, “he says.

(Article published in July 2019).