Source: The Ascott Limited
Source: The Ascott Limited
Source: The Ascott Limited
Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Alvin Tan (centre right) with Mr Miguel Ko, CLI’s Chairman (centre left), Mr Lee Chee Koon, CLI’s Group CEO (fourth from the right) and Mr Kevin Goh, CLI’s CEO for Lodging (third from the right), MrBob Tan, Chairman of the Managers of Ascott Residence Trust (third from the left), Ms Beh Siew Kim, CEO of the Managers of Ascott Residence Trust, together with Ascott Residence Trust’s Board of Directors, as well as Rae, Southeast Asia’s latest hyper-realistic virtual personality (on screen), celebrated the grand opening of lyf one-north Singapore on stage. — Photo by The Ascott Limited
LYF by ascott

CapitaLand Investment Limited’s (CLI) wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) has set a target to sign 150 properties with over 30,000 units under its lyf coliving brand by 2030. The announcement was made at the official opening of lyf one-north Singapore today. The opening ceremony was officiated by the Guest-of-Honour Mr Alvin Tan, Singapore’s Minister of State for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Owned by Ascott’s sponsored hospitality trust, Ascott Residence Trust (ART), the 324-unit lyf one-north Singapore will be an integral part of one-north, Singapore’s research and innovation hub. The property serves to meet the coliving needs of many innovative start-ups, research and development firms as well as high-tech and media enterprises located nearby, while injecting more vibrancy into the district through its experiential programmes and placemaking activities.

Mr Kevin Goh, CLI’s Chief Executive Officer for Lodging, said: “A unique lodging product in a class of its own, Ascott developed lyf as a solution that combines the best of serviced residences, hotels and coliving apartments. We have opened seven lyf properties in Singapore, China, Japan and Thailand to date. Our first lyf property – lyf Funan Singapore achieved an 80% occupancy level within three months of its opening in September 2019. lyf one-north Singapore welcomed our first guest in November 2021, and we have already achieved a strong occupancy rate of above 85% today. We see the potential to expand our lyf portfolio to 150 properties by 2030. In addition to growing the lyf brand via management contracts, we also see attractive opportunities for our private funds and Ascott Residence Trust to deploy more investments into this product class.”

Launch of lyf Innovation Lab to develop immersive virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to deliver cutting-edge experiences to guests in the metaverse

Ascott is also empowering lyf as a coliving concept through digital technology. The service model of lyf is anchored upon the Discover ASR mobile app which enables functionalities from room bookings, hassle-free check-in/check-out processes, keyless room access, management of social spaces and community events, communication board with guests to cashless payment.

At the opening ceremony, Ascott announced the launch of the lyf Innovation Lab to power up its digital-enabled offerings. Created in collaboration with Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Informatics & IT, the lyf Innovation Lab will explore, design and testbed immersive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies and digital experiences for lyf. lyf one-north Singapore will serve as a living lab for field testing these digital innovations. Successful pilots will eventually be implemented across other lyf properties worldwide.

About The Ascott Limited

Since pioneering Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984, Ascott has grown to be a trusted hospitality company with more than 940 properties globally. Headquartered in Singapore, Ascott's presence extends across more than 220 cities in over 40 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA.

Ascott's diversified accommodation offerings span serviced residences, co-living properties, hotels and independent senior living apartments, as well as student accommodation and rental housing. Its award-winning hospitality brands include Ascott, Citadines, lyf, Oakwood, Quest, Somerset, The Crest Collection, The Unlimited Collection, Preference, Fox, Harris, POP!, Vertu and Yello; and it has a brand partnership with Domitys. Through Ascott Star Rewards (ASR), Ascott's loyalty programme, members enjoy exclusive privileges and offers at participating properties.

A wholly owned business unit of CapitaLand Investment Limited, Ascott is a leading vertically-integrated lodging operator. Harnessing its extensive network of third-party owners and in-market expertise, Ascott grows fee-related earnings through its hospitality management and investment management capabilities. Ascott also expands its funds under management by growing its sponsored CapitaLand Ascott Trust and private funds.

For more information on Ascott's industry record of 40 years and its sustainability programme, please visit www.discoverasr.com/the-ascott-limited. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

About CapitaLand Investment Limited

Headquartered and listed in Singapore, CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) is a leading global real estate investment manager (REIM) with a strong Asia foothold. As at 30 September 2023, CLI had S$133 billion of real estate assets under management, and S$90 billion of real estate funds under management (FUM) held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and more than 30 private vehicles across Asia Pacific, Europe and USA. Its diversified real estate asset classes cover retail, office, lodging, business parks, industrial, logistics and data centres.

CLI aims to scale its FUM and fee-related earnings through fund management, lodging management and its full stack of operating capabilities, and maintain effective capital management. As the investment management arm of CapitaLand Group, CLI has access to the development capabilities of and pipeline investment opportunities from CapitaLand's development arm.

As a responsible company, CLI places sustainability at the core of what it does and has committed to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions for scope 1 and 2 by 2050. CLI contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders.

Visit http://www.capitalandinvest.com/ for more information.