Catalist-listed co-living operator The Assembly Place has completed its acquisition of 163 Tras Street, an 11-storey freehold commercial building formerly known as Lian Huat Building.
The Assembly Place intends to convert the property into a 152-room hotel. According to a March 23 announcement, provisional permission has been granted by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for a change of use from commercial to hotel use, “with certain additions and alterations”.
The acquisition was carried out through 163 TS, a joint venture company in which The Assembly Place holds a 10% equity stake.
The Assembly Place’s portion of the loan to partially fund the acquisition and subsequent additions and alterations is expected to amount to approximately $2.25 million.
Of this, $1.88 million will be drawn from the net proceeds of the company's initial public offering, with the balance funded through internal cash resources.
The joint venture company 163 TS is said to also include Apricot Capital and Oxley Holdings’ deputy CEO Eric Low, according to a Business Times report last year, which placed the transaction at $90 million.
See also: The Assembly Place CEO: Scaling from 6 to 10,000 keys through community
This is slightly above the $88.8 million guide price listed in May 2025 by ETC, the sole marketing agent for the property then. The guide price worked out to $2,288 per sq ft on the gross floor area (GFA).
According to ETC, the building occupies a site area of 619.5 sqm (approximately 6,668 sq ft) and has a total GFA of 3,606.34 sqm (approximately 38,818 sq ft), reflecting an equivalent plot ratio of 5.82. The subject property also has six carpark lots.
According to the 2019 Master Plan, the site is zoned for “Commercial” use with a plot ratio of 5.6 and permissible building height of up to 35 storeys.
Eugene Lim, executive director and CEO of The Assembly Place, says 163 Tras Street is a “well-located asset with strong repositioning potential”. “This acquisition moves The Assembly Place meaningfully forward in its mission to build a scalable, diversified community living portfolio. Through our co-investment strategy with partners, we remain asset-light and able to execute our plans with both discipline and speed. The addition of this new asset will strengthen our portfolio of hotel properties and enable us to capture more opportunities in Singapore’s growing tourism segment.”
According to The Assembly Place, the addressable market value of the hotels and serviced apartments segment is expected to reach $2.5 billion by 2030 from $2.2 billion in 2022, while room rental for economy and mid-tier hotels are expected to grow at 1.5% per annum over the next five years.
Founded in 2019, The Assembly Place claims to be “Singapore's largest and most diversified community living operator”, with brands such as TAP, Campus by the Assembly Place and Stay by the Assembly Place.
The Assembly Place manages over 3,000 keys across 100 property assets in Singapore. Its portfolio spans five living sectors: residential co-living, hotels and serviced apartments, student accommodation, foreign healthcare professionals' accommodation and inter-generational.
The Assembly Place listed on the Singapore Exchange Catalist board on Jan 23.
