Singapore’s Coliwoo Puts Seven-Asset Portfolio on the Market for $171M

SGX-listed Coliwoo has put seven properties up for sale for a total of S$218.5 million ($171.3 million), as Singapore’s largest co-living operator looks to redeploy capital into higher-yielding opportunities under an asset-light strategy.

The portfolio comprises five of Coliwoo’s owned properties and two managed facilities in the city-fringe areas of River Valley Road, Balestier Road and Rangoon Road. Styled as The Living Collection, the fully operational properties — a mix of serviced apartments, student hostels and a hotel — can be purchased individually or all together, marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield said Thursday in a release.

The sale campaign comes after parent group LHN listed Coliwoo on the Singapore Exchange last November, raising S$101 million in gross proceeds from the IPO and setting a target to grow Coliwoo’s portfolio from 2,933 owned and managed rooms to nearly 4,000 by the end of 2026. 

“The Living Collection is arguably the largest portfolio of freehold hospitality and living assets currently available for sale,” said Sophia Lim, a director on the investment and capital markets team at Cushman & Wakefield Singapore. “It represents a rare opportunity to acquire a diversified basket of income-producing freehold assets across prime city-fringe locations, with the added advantage of flexible acquisition structures.”

Flexible Buyer Options

Three of the portfolio’s serviced apartment assets are on River Valley Road, within the River Valley residential enclave just south of the Orchard Road shopping belt. The guide prices are S$25 million for the 23-key 268 River Valley Road (a managed property), S$35 million for the 37-key 288 River Valley Road and S$18.5 million for the 13-key 298 River Valley Road.

The assets on the market in the Balestier neighbourhood of the Novena area include a 65-key student hostel at 320 Balestier Road for S$39 million, a 34-key serviced apartment complex at 453 Balestier Road (a managed property) for S$46 million and a 49-key hotel at 471/473 Balestier Road for S$35 million.

The final asset in the portfolio, a 32-key student hostel at 99 Rangoon Road near Farrer Park MRT station, has a guide price of S$20 million, according to the announcement.

For the River Valley assets and 320 Balestier Road, the seller may offer either vacant possession or a sale-and-leaseback arrangement at a gross yield of 3.5 percent, providing optional income stability depending on the buyer’s requirements, Cushman & Wakefield said. The portfolio’s other gross yields are estimated at 3 percent for 453 Balestier Road, 3.8 percent for 471/473 Balestier Road and 3.6 percent for 99 Rangoon Road.

The consultancy said the portfolio enjoys high occupancy rates supported by demand from expatriates, healthcare professionals and international students. Bids will be accepted through an expression-of-interest exercise closing at 3pm on 13 April.

“Investors have the option to purchase the properties individually or acquire the entire portfolio to achieve instant scale, while leveraging sale-and-leaseback structures for immediate income stability,” said Shaun Poh, executive director for capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield Singapore. “A freehold offering of this scale and quality is seldom brought to market.”

Latest Moves

The properties are being made available after Coliwoo announced in late January that it would add 251 rooms to its portfolio through a deal to purchase a hotel near Changi airport from ESR-REIT for S$101 million. The company plans to complete the acquisition of the former Park Avenue Changi by the end of March.

Also in January, Coliwoo sold its co-living hotel at 404 Pasir Panjang to a non-related party for S$43.9 million under a sale and lease-back arrangement, with Coliwoo continuing to operate the property as part of its portfolio of keys under management.

Those deals came just over a half year after Coliwoo won a state tender to manage a 350-key resort in Pasir Ris, located northwest of Changi airport near Serangoon Harbour.

In November, the co-living operator formed a joint venture with the family behind local builder Oxley Holdings to acquire an ageing office block in the Little India area for S$40 million, with indications that the JV plans to convert the property for co-living use.