Ascott acquires first lyf coliving property in Sydney

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CapitaLand Investment Limited’s (CLI) wholly owned lodging enterprise unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is buying its first lyf-branded coliving property in Sydney, Australia. The acquisition of the freehold asset is made by way of the Ascott Serviced Residence Global Fund (ASRGF)1, Ascott’s personal fairness fund with Qatar Investment Authority. This is ASRGF’s third funding in 2022, following the acquisition of Somerset Hangzhou Bay Ningbo and Citadines Canal Amsterdam in March 2022. To date, ASRGF has invested in 12 properties for near US$500 million. ASRGF has since divested its first property at returns that outperformed its anticipated underwriting.

To be named lyf Bondi Junction Sydney, the 197-unit coliving property is slated to open in 2024 and is ready to fulfill the lodging wants of transient younger professionals, enterprise and leisure travellers in the town. The coliving property is strategically situated in Bondi Junction, Sydney’s fifth largest enterprise district and one of many metropolis’s most prosperous residential areas. lyf Bondi Junction Sydney enjoys wonderful hyperlinks to Sydney’s public transportation community and is a brief drive to Sydney’s central enterprise district (CBD). The iconic Bondi Beach is a seven-minute drive away. Guests at lyf Bondi Junction Sydney can stay up for vibrant metropolis and neighborhood dwelling with a number of distinguished meals & beverage, leisure, sporting and leisure choices in the instant neighborhood.

In addition to the acquisition of lyf Bondi Junction Sydney2, Ascott additionally opened its first lyf property in Australia. The 105-unit lyf Collingwood Melbourne is in one of the crucial vibrant neighbourhoods in Melbourne; a two-minute stroll to Smith Street which was named the ‘world’s coolest avenue’ in response to world tradition publication Time Out. The coliving property is surrounded by many thrilling retail choices, from stylish style boutiques, edgy artwork galleries to quirky homeware shops in addition to among the metropolis’s hottest eating places and bars. lyf Collingwood Melbourne is a 10-minute tram journey to the town’s CBD.

Mr Kevin Goh, CLI’s Chief Executive Officer for Lodging, mentioned: “As a vertically-integrated global lodging business with a strong foothold in Asia, Ascott is able to leverage our full suite of real estate investment and management capabilities to add another quality asset to ASRGF’s portfolio. lyf has proven to not only be a popular but resilient brand. lyf one-north Singapore, owned by Ascott Residence Trust, has a strong occupancy rate of about 90%3 since its opening in November 2021. lyf Funan Singapore, which is owned by ASRGF, opened in 2019 and it also enjoys a robust average occupancy rate of almost 90%4, outperforming its peers despite COVID-19.”

Mr Goh added: “With the short supply of professionally-managed coliving properties in Australia, Ascott is set to raise the bar for the coliving sector as we expand the lyf brand in the country. We continue to see attractive opportunities to grow our lyf brand through our private funds and Ascott Residence Trust as well as via management contracts.”

Mr Mak Hoe Kit, Ascott’s Managing Director for Lodging Private Equity Funds and Head of Business Development, mentioned: “Tapping our strong deal sourcing capabilities and extensive business network, we were able to access this attractive off-market acquisition. lyf Bondi Junction Sydney is a rare purpose-built asset in a highly sought-after location for business and tourism. We expect the coliving property to perform well as Sydney boasts a vibrant start-up ecosystem and is amongst the top gateway cities globally. Most of ASRGF’s investments are off-market and sourced via our global presence and strong business development teams on the ground. This, combined with our expertise across the full value chain of investment, asset and fund management as well as award-winning lodging operations, enables us to drive returns from divestments that exceed expected underwriting. As the full deployment of ASRGF draws near, we continue to seek like-minded capital partners to invest in other coliving and serviced residence opportunities, which have proven to be resilient.”

A singular lodging product in a category of its personal, Ascott developed lyf (pronounced ‘life’) or ‘live your freedom’ as an answer that mixes one of the best of serviced residences, resorts and coliving residences. Designed for next-generation friends, the residences, social areas and experiential programmes at lyf properties are designed for friends to forge connections and nurture a robust sense of neighborhood.

With the acquisition of lyf Bondi Junction Sydney, there shall be 11 properties with about 2,200 models held beneath ASRGF. The fund has 5 operational properties – Ascott Sudirman Jakarta, La Clef Champs-Élysées Paris, Citadines Islington London, lyf Funan Singapore and Quest NewQuay Docklands Melbourne. Properties beneath improvement embody lyf Gambetta Paris, Ascott’s first lyf-branded coliving property in Europe, and Somerset Metropolitan West Hanoi. Both properties had been acquired in June 2021 and are anticipated to open in 2024. Citadines Walker North Sydney is slated to launch in December 2022.

Ascott opens lyf Collingwood Melbourne

Guests at lyf Collingwood Melbourne can stay up for making new connections and hanging out on the property’s social areas. The ‘Connect’ social lounge and coworking house is provided with high-speed Wi-Fi and charging shops. At the absolutely geared up ‘Bond’ social kitchen, friends can transcend simply whipping up a meal, but in addition swop recipes and cooking suggestions with fellow residents. The property’s launderette, ‘Wash & Hang’, comes with an arcade-style video games machine for friends to play alongside one another whereas ready for his or her laundry. At the ‘Collab & White’ rooms, friends can use these multi-purpose areas for conferences, displays or to brainstorm their subsequent large enterprise concept.

Guests who’re followers of avenue artwork shall be drawn to the property’s signature #lyfxart initiative. lyf Collingwood Melbourne is dwelling to customized murals by up to date artist Mysterious Al, who has showcased his artworks extensively at galleries and artwork gala’s worldwide and collaborated with main style manufacturers. His art work adorns the coliving property’s partitions, and most strikingly, an enormous piece on the constructing’s exterior. Each house additionally boasts a bespoke wallpaper designed by the artist.

lyf Collingwood Melbourne gives a variety of house varieties resembling ‘One of a Kind’ or ‘One of a Kind Plus’ studios that are perfect for singles or {couples}. The coliving property additionally gives ‘Two of a Kind’ residences, designed for teams of associates or colleagues travelling collectively and have side-by-side doorways with separate lockable entrances in addition to a shared kitchen that comes with trendy SMEG equipment. In addition, lyf Collingwood Melbourne is a pet-friendly property, providing the friends’ pet a mattress, blanket, meals bowl, deal with and toy.

Expanding lyf’s coliving expertise

With the acquisition of lyf Bondi Junction Sydney and the opening of lyf Collingwood Melbourne, Ascott at present has 18 lyf properties with over 3,400 models throughout 14 cities in 9 nations. This contains three lyf properties which are slated to open in 2022 in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Xi’an. Seven different lyf properties are scheduled to open in Beijing, Cebu, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Paris and Sydney by 2025. To date, Ascott has opened eight lyf properties in Australia, China, Singapore, Japan and Thailand.

In April 2022, Ascott introduced the launch of the lyf Innovation Lab to discover, design and testbed immersive digital actuality and augmented actuality applied sciences and digital experiences for lyf. lyf one-north Singapore will function a dwelling lab for discipline testing these digital improvements. Successful pilots will finally be applied throughout different lyf properties worldwide.

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