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The Great Room (TGR), a homegrown flexible workspace operator founded in 2016, has secured a deal to set up its fourth location here at the historic Raffles Hotel Singapore, which is expected to reopen by August after undergoing a major refurbishment.
Touted as the first ever co-working space housed in a six-star hotel, TGR will occupy 15,000 sq ft of space on the second level of the historic property.
“We are proud to announce TGR at Raffles Hotel – Singapore’s most iconic hotel and landmark. We chose the Raffles Hotel Singapore because our visions of an all-day journey of work, live and play are well-aligned,” said TGR’s co-founder and CEO Jaelle Ang.
The Great Room currently has three existing facilities in Singapore, which are all running at close to full run rate occupancy. These consist of two locations at Ngee Ann City and Centennial Tower, as well as its flagship co-working space at One George Street, whose average desk rates are surpassing other co-working spaces by 30 percent. One George Street is also recording strong EDITDA margins of 25 to 35 percent.
Moreover, Bloomberg reported that the co-working space operator is known for its posh office space and premium services. For instance, its facility at Centennial Tower comes with marble floorings and finishings painted in gold, on top of serving coconut water in the pantry fridge
But this comes at a higher price tag, as TGR’s membership price for a dedicated office starts from $2,500 per month, which Ang says is around 20 percent more expensive than WeWork’s.
Outside Singapore, TGR has an existing facility at Gaysorn Tower in Bangkok and plans to open its first location in Hong Kong at One Taikoo Place, which was developed by Swire Properties.
Opening by March 2019, the facility occupies an entire floor plate measuring 24,000 sq ft that can accommodate up to 300 desks.
“We have been very selective in our choice of operator for flex space at One Taikoo Place. Despite being a relatively new brand, Singapore’s renowned co-working space operator The Great Room stood out. The operator we chose had to be of a standard commensurate with the multinational businesses like Facebook, Baker McKenzie, Ernst & Young, Kering and Jones Lang LaSalle in our One Taikoo Place portfolio,” added Swire Properties director Don Taylor.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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