SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - CapitaLand’s wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott, is opening 17 co-living properties with over 3,000 units in 13 cities and nine countries under its lyf brand, by 2025.

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The expanded portfolio includes a newly opened lyf Mid-Town Hangzhou, Ascott’s first lyf-branded co-living property in China. The group has also secured a management contract for its second lyf property in Thailand, lyf Riverside Bangkok.

This follows Ascott’s recent acquisition of its first lyf property in Europe, livelyfhere Gambetta Paris, through its private fund Ascott Serviced Residence Global Fund in June 2021.

To date, Ascott has opened four lyf properties, in Singapore, Bangkok, Fukuoka and Hangzhou. Three more are slated to open later this year - in Singapore, Xi’an and Shanghai.

“We see the potential for more co-living investments by our existing trust and fund, or even a dedicated co-living lodging fund with like-minded capital partners to accelerate our growth,” says Kevin Goh, CapitaLand Investment’s CEO for Lodging.

“This will enable us to leverage a capital-efficient business model to expand our capital partner base while achieving fee-related earnings and funds under management growth,” Goh adds.