Caption: Members at Common, a co-living startup, chilling at communal space. Co-living has become one of the latest trends in real estate as millennials look for a sense of community in isolated metropolises like New York. (Photo provided by Common Coliving)

Life has changed for Nathan de Paz, a Texas local who moved to New York City five months ago, especially since he moved in WeLive, the co-living spinoff of the office sharing startup WeWork.

A community associate for WeLive, he works and lives in the same building and sometimes doesn’t leave the building the entire day. But the social life within the building has kept him busy.

“Now there is less time alone,” said Depaz. “It’s my first time in New York City and I live on Wall Street. It’s badass.”

Occupying the floors above WeWork in a 27-story office building on Wall Street, WeLive charges $3,050 for a studio and $7,600 for a four-room apartment, while regular apartments in Manhattan cost about $2,900 for a studio and $7,000 for a four-room apartment. The WeLive price includes maintenance services and common spaces like kitchen, laundry rooms, gaming room, yoga studio and a bar, which encourages members to socialize within the building.

WeWork, which started by leasing office space and desks to the entrepreneurial and creative crowd, now has locations in more than 50 cities globally and was valued at $20 billion dollars in the latest funding round last July. In a leaked document, the company said it expected the co-living business to take 21 percent of the overall revenue by 2018, planning to open more than 30 locations by the end of last year. At the moment, it only has two locations – in Wall Street Manhattan and in Washington DC.

Although WeLive has been lagging behind its expansion plan, which industry insiders attribute to the complexity in the real estate industry in New York, it didn’t stop new players to cash in on the nascent market of co-living as millennials like De Paz started to seek a sense of community in isolated metropolises.

In New York City alone, co-living start-ups like Common Coliving, Ollie and Bedly, have emerged in the last three years, charging a premium for freeing people from the traditional renting hassle with facilities, maintenance services and, most importantly, providing communal space and events to help residents to connect to each other.

Common Coliving, which just raised $40 million in its latest funding round early this month, has raised $60 million since its launch in 2015. It receives more than 1,000 applications per week for the 400 rooms it offers. It plans to open about one new home per month in New York City and expand to new markets next year, said Rachel Petersen, a public relations specialist for the company.

Launched two years ago, the company now has 14 locations in five cities, among them eight in New York City. Members can relocate among the locations, which is a big draw for freelancers and creative industry workers.

Also known as “hacker houses,” co-living of the modern age started on the West Coast, where startups turned residential houses into co-living space for the convenience of working together. It was also depicted in the movie Social Network, where Mark Zuckerberg rented a five-room house for the coders who created Facebook over the Summer of 2004. In New York, however, the concept of “co-living” seems to have evolved into a more social one.

Lior Kedmi, a freelance web developer from Israel, has been staying in a two-room apartment in WeLive with her husband and one-year-old son for three months. The family pays $6,000 per month, while an average two-room apartment costs about $5,400 in Manhattan. She said the price is worth the opportunity to network and make connections in the tech industry. Some of the residents in WeLive are pooled from WeWork’s tech-savvy, entrepreneurial members.

“People here are more social,” she said. However, she would only consider it as a short-term option considering the hefty price.

While co-living is not likely to disrupt the renting market like Uber changed car-sharing, it does create a different community and brings more social life for those who find the price to be reasonable, said Kathy Braddock, managing director of real estate firm William Raveis in New York City.

Meanwhile, more affordable versions of co-living are coming up. Park Slope HQ, an extension of LMHQ, a non-for-profit coworking space provider in New York, has been offering rooms and office spaces to selected graduates and professionals at about one third less than the market price. In addition to the access to various social events and working spaces at LMHQ, it is also working with Impact Hub, an international network of coworking spaces, to expand its global reach.

“We are the non-WeLive,” said Jacob Yahiayan, founder of Park Slope HQ and managing member at investment firm Continental Advisory Services. He is now planning a $30 million investment in a larger non-for-profit co-living project a block away from Wall Street. It will turn a 158-year-old social clubhouse into a co-living space with 70 units in total. The starting price will be $2,490, about one fifth lower than that of WeLive.

This is only the beginning of the co-living age, said Ezekiel Ezekiel, an Israeli businessman who co-owns corporate housing company Kozi in Texas. He lived in WeLive Wallstreet for three months and is now seeking to develop an affordable co-living project in suburban Tel Aviv for young families like his own.

“Regular housing keeps people secluded,” he said. “People are so bored with loneliness. The American dream is not working for everyone.”

“I call it the mushroom effect. WeLive is the first big mushroom, but there will be more, better mushrooms of all kinds.”