Centurion to Seed Singapore-Listed REIT With 14 Assets Valued at $1.4B

Singapore’s Centurion Corp has released more details of its proposed SGX-listed REIT, with the new vehicle expected to acquire 14 of the developer’s purpose-built projects at launch with an agreed value totalling S$1.8 billion ($1.4 billion).

The seed portfolio of Centurion Accommodation REIT will comprise five purpose-built worker accommodation assets in Singapore, eight purpose-built student accommodation assets in Britain and one PBSA asset in Australia, the group said Monday in a stock filing. As of March, those properties provided 21,282 PBWA beds and 2,772 PBSA beds, according to the group.

Centurion also anticipates a “significant increase” in profits for the first half of 2025 on the back of fair value gains on investment properties, coming after the group’s full-year profit more than doubled in 2024 to S$344.8 million. The developer and emerging fund manager said the REIT spin-out would provide shareholders with additional choices and more flexibility in how to invest in the group.

“Shareholders will have the option to adjust their investment to each listed vehicle based on their own investment demands and outlook,” Centurion CEO Kong Chee Min said in the filing.

Sydney Acquisition Teed Up

Key assets in the REIT’s seed portfolio include the 7,330-bed Westlite Toh Guan and 6,290-bed Westlite Mandai worker dorms in Singapore, the 982-bed Dwell Manchester Student Village and 362-bed Dwell Manchester Student Village South in England, and the 300-bed Dwell East End Adelaide in the South Australia capital.

The trust also plans to buy a second Australia student housing asset, the under-development Epiisod Macquarie Park in western Sydney, after completion of the listing. The 732-bed project will boost the portfolio to 15 assets with an agreed value of S$2.1 billion.

Centurion will hold a stake in the REIT and wholly own the trust’s manager and property managers. The group’s asset-light strategy aims to create a capital-efficient asset-owning platform and generate additional streams of recurring income while reducing costs.

“The listing of Centurion Accommodation REIT will allow CCL to pursue attractive investment opportunities and further grow its fund management brand, platform and business, showcasing its ability to manage both private and public funds,” the group said.

Burgeoning Beds

Centurion currently operates over 65,000 beds across its portfolio, having recently ventured into Hong Kong and mainland China.

The company entered the Hong Kong student housing market in the first half of 2024 with a pair of master-leased properties the developer refurbished. The two assets — the 66-bed Dwell Prince Edward and the 89-bed Dwell Ho Man Tin — are situated in Kowloon and began operations last September.

In July of last year, the group secured a third master lease for a 550-bed worker housing facility in the New Territories, known as Westlite Sheung Shui, which opened in November.

Centurion has also set up joint ventures for a pair of build-to-rent projects in China’s Xiamen. Under the Centurion-Cityhome Gaolin project, the group has secured master leases for 400 out of 1,000 apartments, which began operations earlier this year. For Centurion-Cityhome Linxia, the group will convert a newly built residential asset into 500 apartments, secured under a 20-year master lease.

Centurion reported average occupancy of 94 percent in its worker housing segment and 97 percent in the student housing segment in 2024. On Tuesday, the SGX-listed group’s shares closed 1.1 percent higher at S$1.77.