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The Ascott Limited, CapitaLand’s serviced residence business unit, has expanded its managing portfolio with the addition of 14 properties comprising over 2,000 units across eight countries.
These include China, India, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
Of the 14 new properties, three are under its co-living ‘lyf’ brand, located in Fukuoka in Japan, Shanghai in China and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
A partnership with Japanese real estate company, NTT Urban Development Corporation, will see Ascott managing lyf Fukuoka and jointly exploring serviced residence opportunities in Japan. Situated within Fukuoka’s major retail and recreational centre, the 131-unit lyf development is slated to open in 2020.
lyf Raja Chulan Kuala Lumpur is also set to open next year, while the 160-unit lyf Hongqiao Shanghai is slated to open in 2022.
The three new additions bring Ascott’s lyf portfolio to eight properties with more than 1,600 units under development in Singapore, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Ascott expects to open its first lyf property in Singapore in the fourth quarter of 2019.
“Demand for our lyf-branded co-living properties is gaining ground. We are bringing lyf to Fukuoka, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai as the buzzing start-up ecosystems in these cities have given rise to a popular culture of living and co-creating as a community among the millennials,” said Ascott CEO Kevin Goh.
“Millennials already account for a quarter of Ascott’s customer base, and with our lyf brand, we can seize opportunities presented by the booming millennial generation, set to become the largest spending travel demographic in the near future.”
He also revealed plans to bring the lyf brand to other potential markets including France, Australia, Indonesia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the 14 new properties marks Ascott’s maiden foray into Changchun, which is the second biggest city in northeast China.
The company is also set to bring its Ascott The Residence brand to Germany with the opening of the 100-unit Ascott Riverpark Tower Frankfurt in 2022.
“Besides management contracts, Ascott’s strategic alliances with market leaders such as NTT Urban Development Corporation in Japan, Huazhu Hotels Group in China and Ananda Development in Thailand continue to provide us with a strong pipeline of properties.”
Ascott’s alliance with Huazhu and Ananda Development enabled the company to secure the 118-unit Citadines Hongqiao Mixc Shanghai and the 324-unit Somerset Blue Coast Pattaya respectively.
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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