Artist's impression of the upcoming 90-unit lyf Chinatown on Mosque Street and Pagoda Street (Photo: Warees Investments)
CapitaLand Investment's lodging business, The Ascott Ltd, and Warees Investments announced their second partnership in 20 years at the groundbreaking ceremony on May 24. Masagos Zulkifli, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, graced the event.
The hospitality property, lyf Chinatown, is set to open in mid-2026. lyf Chinatown is a 90-unit co-living development that will be housed within a new annex building, which will be linked to four neighbouring pre-war shophouses via a bridge on the second level, totalling 36,527 sq ft. With Lyf Chinatown, the first storey of the four pre-war commercial shophouses fronting Pagoda Street will be rejuvenated and leased to different businesses.
The new co-living property sits within the Jamae Chulia Heritage site, which also houses the existing Jamae Chulia mosque on Mosque Street and the four Pagoda Street shophouses.
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Back row (from left to right): Kevin Goh, CEO, Ascott and Hj Abdul Razak Maricar, chairman Warees; Fron row (from left to right)t: Wong Kar Ling, chief strategy officer, Ascott and managing director of Southeast Asia, Ascott and Masagoes Isyak, CEO, Warees (Photo: Warees Investments)
It is the fifth lyf property in Singapore and will expand Ascott's portfolio to a total of 23 properties in the city, says Wong Kar Ling, Ascott's chief strategy officer and managing director of Southeast Asia. "lyf Chinatown, being situated in the heart of a dynamic enclave, offers travellers and residents the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the rich culture, diversity, and energy of the locale."
lyf Chinatown is also Ascott's second property with Warees – an endowment asset management company wholly owned by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore or Muis. Their first partnership was in 2004 with the launch of Somerset Bencoolen Singapore, which underwent renovations in 2019.
Warees and Ascott will also develop community programmes for guests at lyf Chinatown, such as visits to nearby Islamic institutions with rich heritage like Nagore Dargah shrine at 40 Telok Ayer Street and the neighbouring Jamae Chulia mosque.
The upcoming lyf Chinatown is part of the Jamae Chulia Heritage site, which includes four pre-war shophouses that will be rejuvenated and the existing Jamae Chulia mosque on Mosque Street (Source: EdgeProp Landlens)
Warees manages endowments, develops prime commercial and residential properties, and conserves cultural and heritage assets. Some of its assets include The Red House at Katong – a mixed-use commercial and residential development along East Coast Road, 99-year leasehold landed housing cluster Alias Villas in Bukit Timah and the Bencoolen Street mixed-use development, which houses the 84-unit Somerset Bencoolen serviced apartment, a mosque, commercial units and Bencoolen MRT station on the Downtown Line.
In his speech at the event, Masagos Zulkifli says that the Jamae Chulia Heritage site is the last remaining wakaf (endowment) land to be developed. It is a tribute to the collective efforts of the Indian Muslim community towards nation-building since the 1800s and a testament to the community's progress over the decades, he adds.
WJC Heritage, a subsidiary of Warees Investments, was incorporated to manage the revitalisation works at the Jamae Chulia mosque. It has formed a joint equity partnership with two other wakaf -- Wakaf Haji Mohamed Amin Bin Fazal Elahi and Wakaf Jamae Chulia -- to fund the project, said Abdul Razak Hassan Maricar, chairman of Warees' board of directors.
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"The additional income generated from the commercial mixed-use development would be channelled to meet the growing needs and uplift the Indian Muslim community, as beneficiaries of the wakaf, through improved infrastructure and economic opportunities," the Minister notes.