Centurion JV Secures Master Lease for Hong Kong Worker Housing Project

Singapore-based rental housing specialist Centurion Corp and its Hong Kong local partner have struck a deal to lease all 50 residential units in a New Territories building with the intent of renovating the property into a 550-bed worker accommodation.

The conversion of the Cheung Chi Hang Building in the Shueng Shui area’s Shek Wu Hui neighbourhood will be carried out by a 60:40 JV of SGX-listed Centurion and LionRock Property, according to a Thursday stock filing.

The 10-storey building dates to 1981 and sits within a six-minute walk of Sheung Shui MTR station. Upon completion of the renovation, the property is to open this October and operate under Centurion’s Westlite worker accommodation brand and management platform.

“The entry into the master lease is in the ordinary course of business of the JV company of leasing, refurbishment, and/or management of accommodation assets in Hong Kong for students and/or workers, and consistent with the group’s strategy to grow its accommodation business globally, via asset light means,” Centurion CEO Kong Chee Min said in the filing.

Student Beds Pipeline

The master lease of the property on San Fung Avenue was agreed with independent third party Abercorn Investments and commenced on 3 July for a fixed term expiring on 31 May 2030, with an option to renew for a further term of five years.

The deal marks an expansion of Centurion’s JV with LionRock, a student housing specialist led by local architect Addie Chan, following similar master lease agreements to refit two buildings in Kowloon.

The partnership was launched in April with a plan to refurbish a building at 177 Prince Edward Road West into a 66-bed student accommodation at a projected cost of HK$11.5 million ($1.5 million), to be completed and operational by September.

In May, the JV agreed to lease 15 floors of a building on Ma Tau Wai Road, near Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Metropolitan University, with a view to converting the space into an 89-bed student accommodation, also to be operational in September.

Regional Rejig

Centurion is growing its footprint in Hong Kong after executing a string of deals last year to reconfigure its overseas portfolio.

The Singaporean firm announced in December that it was selling two worker dormitories in Malaysia to the country’s largest public sector pension fund, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan, for MYR 227 million ($47 million). Centurion is leasing back the properties in Johor and Penang from KWAP for a period of 15 years.

The company also exited the South Korean market with its sale of the Dwell Dongdaemun student housing facility in April of last year, in a deal valued at KRW 21.3 billion ($16 million).

In early 2023, the firm’s controlling shareholder, Centurion Properties, proposed a 732-unit student housing project in Sydney worth A$132.2 million ($87 million). The project is expected to be operated under student housing brand Dwell Living, through which the company already manages 10 assets in Britain, five in the US and two in Australia.