The Assembly Place expands presence to homestay, healthcare and senior co-living
By Nicholas Lam
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
The conservation building at 161 Lavender Street is now named Hafary House and 76 co-living rooms that just opened on Sept 1 (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Homegrown co-living operator The Assembly Place (TAP) just opened its 132nd property on Sept 1. Located at 161 Lavender Street, the conservation building has 76 co-living rooms on the upper two floors of a four-storey annexe block. The units are a mix of three- and four-bedrooms, and the space is now nearly 90% pre-leased. Rates range from $1,850 per month for a non-ensuite bedroom to between $2,000 and $2,500 a month for an ensuite bedroom, depending on the size.
TAP is also managing the 25,000 sq ft commercial space on the lower two floors of the property, which are over 60% leased to date. The first level is leased to a variety of clinics, a Chinese fusion restaurant, a café, a pet shop, a florist and two retail shops. Slightly over half of the second level will be a showroom, and the rest will be leased to other retailers, restaurants and services.
Formerly known as Lavender Place, the building has been renamed Hafary House since Singapore-listed building materials supplier Hafary Holdings acquired it for $71.28 million in July 2022. The building comprises a row of 11 conservation shophouses with a four-storey rear extension and sits on an island block with frontage along Lavender Street, Foch Road and Tyrwhitt Road.
The conservation building, Hafary House at 161 Lavender Street has 76 co-living rooms opened on September 1 and is already nearly 90% pre-leased (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
TAP will also be managing four black-and-white colonial-era bungalows at Woodleigh Park, owned by the Public Utilities Board (PUB). The bungalows will be converted into 30 premium co-living spaces, which will be operational by the end of the year.
“It will include a state-of-the-art communal space powered by technology that allows our members to work from home within the premises,” says Eugene Lim, the firm’s CEO and co-founder. There will also be a landscaped courtyard with a cooking station for members to use. Community events will be held at the courtyard, where a private chef will be invited to cook for the members.
Since TAP started five years ago, the company’s footprint has expanded to 2,000 beds across 135 locations. By 1Q2025, it will hit 3,800 rooms. Going by room count, Lim says it is the largest co-living operator in Singapore.
Campus by The Assembly Place, TAP's flagship 426-bed premium student housing project located at Lorong J Telok Kurau in the East (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
New segments
While continuing to grow its pipeline of co-living spaces, TAP is also expanding its offering into other segments of the living sector — from student accommodation to foreign healthcare workers’ lodgings, senior co-living and homestay for students.
Lim sees it as a natural extension of his co-living business. The company’s database of past and present members number about 3,500 today. Of these, 75% are 34 years or under, with the majority aged 28 to 29. Based on Lim’s research, many of TAP's co-living members have been in Singapore for several years.
“We wondered if we could provide accommodation for them while they are still students and before they begin their careers,” he says. “We hope to be part of their living journey — from students to professionals — until they decide to buy their own property in Singapore or when they return to their home country.”
The Campus by The Assembly Place at Telok Kurau is TAP's flagship student accommodation and sits on a sprawling site of over 100,000 sq ft (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Student accommodation
The expansion follows the success of Campus by The Assembly Place, its flagship 426-bed premium student housing project located at Lorong J Telok Kurau in the East. It has over 100,000 sq ft of landscaped grounds, an outdoor CrossFit gym, running track, basketball court, an air-conditioned study area, a student lounge and games room.
The property was jointly acquired by Apricot Capital, the family office of Super Group instant coffee founder David Teo and TAP. Apricot Capital holds a majority stake in the asset which was purchased on a 103-year lease for $40 million in June last year.
According to Lim, the project has enjoyed over 90% occupancy since April, just six months after it launched in October 2023. The average rate per bed at Campus is $850 per month, with the premium beds going for up to $1,600 a month.
Campus houses mainly tertiary-level students from over 20 countries around the region, with the three biggest being China, India and Vietnam. Other countries include Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines. Some attend the local polytechnics, while others are in universities such as James Cook University (JCU), Kaplan City Campus and Singapore University of Technology and Design.
The outdoor crossfit gym at Campus in Telok Kurau which sits on a sprawling site of over 100,000 sq ft (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Despite its location in the east, residents include foreign students studying at the National University of Singapore, which is located in the west; Singapore Management University (SMU) in Bras Basah; and Kaplan City Campus in Mount Sophia. Lim sees it as an endorsement of the product. For the convenience of students, a shuttle service to Paya Lebar MRT Interchange is provided between 6.30am and 9.30am daily.
TAP will be opening a second student accommodation facility next year on South Bridge Road in Chinatown. Called Campus at South Bridge Road by The Assembly Place, it will have another 80 beds.
To establish its foothold in the student accommodation business, TAP entered into partnerships with close to 20 local and overseas institutions, including SMU and JCU, as well as others which are located in the east near Campus.
The existing homestay market is very fragmented. We have studied the market, and we feel that we can fill the gap in the market (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Stay by The Assembly Place
TAP’s success with Campus has led private education institutions and parents to approach them about setting up a homestay programme for younger students, including those in the upper primary and lower secondary levels.
Having participated in educational fairs in Chinese cities such as Chongqing and Xi’an and spoken to multiple parents and private education institutions, TAP believes it is now ready to tackle that segment of the market.
“The existing homestay market is very fragmented,” notes Lim. “We have studied the market, and we feel that we can fill the gap in the market. The question is: how do we institutionalise this service?”
It seems TAP is able to. By the end of the year, the firm will launch its new homestay segment under the brand, Stay by The Assembly Place, and welcome its first batch of 30 lower secondary students aged between 13 and 15.
TAP is currently identifying which of its over 135 properties will be most suitable to launch as its first “bespoke homestay” space. High on its list is the black-and-white bungalows at Woodleigh Park, which is being refurbished, and scheduled to open by December.
One of the communal areas at Campus student accommodation in Telok Kurau (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Stay will provide a more “bespoke service”, says Lim. The co-living operator is in talks with tuition centres to provide after-school tutoring services in Chinese, English and Mathematics as well as other enrichment programmes. TAP is also exploring the possibility of hiring a private chef for the property to provide nutritious meals for the students. Hygiene and security are also top on the list of priorities for both parents and students, says Lim.
“The parents want something of a higher standard,” he adds. “The experiences and programmes laid out for the students must be meaningful. We want to ensure that the kids are happy, they feel safe, and the food is nutritious.”
Given that the students are relatively young, they will also require a guardian. Guardianship will be provided by a third-party operator. “The institutions trust us,” he adds. “They trust the system that we have in place for Campus.”
If the pilot homestay business takes off, TAP is prepared to expand its offerings by converting more assets in their portfolio for homestay use.
One of the more premium rooms with just two beds at Campus by The Assembly Place at Telok Kurau (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Senior co-living
On the other end of the demographic spectrum, TAP has thrown its hat into the senior co-living space jointly with TS Group, a workers’ dormitory and accommodation provider. The joint-venture partners submitted the highest of six bids to operate a site along Henderson Road designated by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) for serviced apartments and senior co-living.
The joint venture submitted a bid of $102,888 per month for the site, trumping the second-highest bid by over 25%. The tender is based on price-quality, and the results have yet to be announced.
If awarded, TAP plans to create an intergenerational co-living space where senior and younger tenants can share common areas and facilities on the 77,551 sq ft site. However, they will have separate living areas for the seniors and the younger tenants to accommodate their varied living habits.
According to the Department of Statistics, almost one-fifth of Singapore’s citizen population is 65 and above. By 2030, the figure will increase to one in four. “There will be a big spike in the number of senior citizens in the next five years,” says Lim.
The joint venture submitted a bid of $102,888 per month for the site at Henderson Road which SLA has designated for use as serviced apartments and senior co-living (Photo: SLA)
Beyond providing accommodation, TAP believes community building is key to co-living. “If we are successful in getting the site, we want to do time-sharing,” says Lim.
He defines “time-sharing” as activities where the younger TAP members can participate in joint community events with the senior members. These could include low-impact sports like paddle ball, chess, mahjong and cooking. There will be a “benefits programme” to incentivise younger TAP members to participate in these activities.
“I’m of the opinion that younger people are willing to help,” adds Lim. “We want to create a place where the young also take responsibility in helping the silver generation age gracefully. Together with our partner TS Group, we’ve decided to see how we can do that.”
The first of three lodging facilities for foreign healthcare workers is located at 1A Short Street (Photo: Google Maps)
Lodging facilities for healthcare workers, boutique hotels
It is the second joint venture between TAP and TS Group. The two partners were awarded the contract to retrofit and operate three lodging facilities for healthcare workers at 1A Short Street, 36 and 38 Teck Whye Crescent and 107 Circuit Road.
The facility at Short Street in the Rochor area opened at the end of June and welcomed 250 foreign nurses. The other two sites will have 1,200 beds and will be operational in 1Q2025.
At the end of June, TAP raised $5.33 million from a pre-Series A funding exercise with Apricot Capital as the cornerstone investor. The funds will be used to further increase its footprint to 5,000 beds by the end of 2025.
TAP recently acquired the property at 9 Jalan Besar jointly with Apricot Capital which is currently operating as its first co-living hotel (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
The funds will also be used for the capital expenditure required for the retrofitting and operating the healthcare lodging facilities, says Lim. Beyond that, TAP wants to enter joint ventures with partners to acquire small stakes in some of the properties that it manages.
For instance, TAP recently acquired the property at 9 Jalan Besar jointly with Apricot Capital. The property is currently operating as TAP’s first co-living hotel. It will be renovated next month to add more rooms to the existing inventory of 23 rooms.
A second boutique hotel will open at 261 Outram Road, which will have 26 rooms. TAP will come up with a different brand for its boutique hotels and serviced apartments, says Lim.
At Hafary House on 161 Lavender Street, non-ensuite bedrooms have rates of $1,850 per month while ensuite bedrooms range from $2,000 to $2,500 a month (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Managing assets
Other upcoming projects by TAP from now until 1Q2025 include the new 90-bed co-living spaces at the former commercial-and-residential complex Serene Centre. The property at the corner of Bukit Timah Road and Farrer Road was acquired by Apricot Capital for $105 million in February this year. Besides converting the apartments in the upper floors to co-living spaces, TAP will also be managing the commercial spaces on the lower floors. Refurbishment works began in April, and the project is targeted to be operational by 1Q2025.
TAP also operates Apricot Capital’s two other co-living facilities at 257 Outram Road in the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood and 138–140 Jalan Besar in the Rochor area, both of which opened in 2022. It will also be managing two shophouses along Killiney Road as a co-living space with 20 beds for a high-net-worth individual who wishes to remain anonymous.
Lim wants to position TAP as a property manager-cum-co-living player. With the firm’s track record, he wants it to evolve into a property fund manager too.“We could potentially help an individual or family office identify potential investments, acquire the asset, turn it around, manage it for several years, increase its rental yield and asset value, and allow the owner to exit at an attractive capital gain,” he says.
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