GSM Building will soon be home to 187 serviced apartments (Image: Savills)
LHN Group has signed its second deal this month with the family behind listed builder Oxley Holdings, with the partners now working on two rental residential projects in Singapore’s District 6.
The developer announced to the SGX on Monday that its Coliwoo co-living division has agreed to sell a stake in an entity acquiring the GSM Building at the corner of Middle Road and Waterloo Street to Macritchie Developments, a private firm owned by Oxley’s chairman and chief executive officer Ching Chiat Kwong and his son, Shawn Ching Wei Hung.
The deal was announced two months after Singapore’s High Court cleared Coliwoo to buy the property, following through on a S$80 million ($58.71 million) collective sale signed in February 2023, which had been contested by unhappy elements on the seller side.
The follows LHN’s announcement on 9 April that it had established a S$48 million joint venture with Ching and son’s Macritchie Developments to acquire and renovate a four-storey building opposite the Peranakan Museum at 50 Armenian Street, which is roughly one kilometre (0.6 miles) from the GSM Building in District 6.
Three Projects in One Month
LHN is selling a 20 percent stake in the GSM Building project to Macritchie Developments, while it retains 80 percent. The minority shareholder is 90 percent owned by the Oxley chairman, with the remainder held by Shawn Ching Wei Hung. The purchase of the GSM Building is now expected to conclude on 9 May.
Oxley boss Ching Chiat Kwong
LHN says it is seeking approval to convert the GSM Building’s upper four floors for residential use, as it plans to convert the property into a 187-key Coliwoo serviced apartment complex with shops on the first two floors, based on the firm’s latest business update. The maximum allowable gross floor area on the site is around 50,400 square feet (4,682 square metres).
Built in the 1970s, the GSM Building is located opposite the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts at 141 Middle Road, and is within a 10-minute walk of the Bencoolen, Bras Basah and Bugis MRT stations. It is also within a few blocks of Singapore Management University and the institution’s more than 9,000 students.
Asked about the JV’s plans for the project, both LHN and Oxley had not responded to inquiries from Mingtiandi by the time of publication.
Adding 2,400 Keys
LHN, which has a market cap of S$137 million, grew its rental residential portfolio by 2,153 keys in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 4.3 percent from the preceding three months, through the addition of new projects in Singapore, according to its business update.
The company’s hometown remained its largest market with Coliwoo-branded properties accounting for 1,770 units, or more than 80 percent of its rental residential holdings, while the remaining 383 keys were spread across four co-living properties in Myanmar, Cambodia and China under its 85 SOHO brand.
In the 12 months ending 30 September LHN launched three new locations in the Lion City: Coliwoo Orchard at 2 Mount Elizabeth Link; Coliwoo Lavender Collection along Lavender Street; and Coliwoo 298 River Valley. Also during last year the company spent S$23.25 million to acquire a pair of buildings at 286 and 288 River Valley Road which are slated for its Coliwoo portfolio.
The group said it plans to add at least 800 keys to its co-living portfolio each year for the next three years, while shifting to an asset-light business model. Coliwoo was Singapore’s largest co-living operator as of June 2023, outpacing The Assembly Place and Bespoke Habitat, based on a JLL report.
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