Ten affiliates of German coliving operator Quarters have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, just as the company was about to expand in Europe.
The Berlin-based coliving brand of Medici Living Group raised $300 million to branch into the U.S. early in 2019. It then raised $1.4 billion for its European expansion.
The company pitched itself as “the WeWork of coliving” in 2012 and as the largest operator of shared living spaces.
After its funding in 2019, the company aimed to open 9,000 rooms. As of last year, it had opened 5,000 rooms worldwide, but now the company is currently operating 3,000 with 95% occupancy.
The company’s eight properties owned by LLCs that filed for bankruptcy are located in Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
The other two properties who filed for bankruptcy, which are located in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, hadn’t started leasing yet.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Quarters was sued by its landlord at the DeKalb building in New York after it tried to cancel its 10-year lease.