SINGAPORE, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The largest co-living property in Southeast Asia has been opened here under the name of lyf Funan Singapore which caters for the millennial generation, its managing staff said here Thursday during a media preview.
The property covers a floor area of about 120,000 square feet and houses 412 bed rooms across 279 apartments. It's developed by the Ascott Limited (Ascott) which is the CapitaLand's wholly owned lodging business unit, said Mindy Teo, Ascott's deputy managing director of lyf.
According to her, the concept of co-living is embodied in the co-living apartments, in the social spaces, and in the community it tries to build with weekly social programs such as a hobby workshop or a cooking class for its residents to interact and immerse with the locals or professionals. It tries to attract one-night stayers as well as long-term guests.
The property homes five interchangeable apartment types ranging from 18 square meters to 105 square meters. There are four six-bedroom apartments, as well as 18 four-bedroom apartments.
Amid the amenities in lyf, guests can prepare home-cooked meals at its social kitchen, work out and have fun with quirky design and interactive elements such as a giant ball pit, a giant-sized Connect Four set and the "Burn" social gymnasium with a human-sized hamster wheel, or hang out at the "Wash & Hang" laundromat and strike up new conversations while waiting for their laundry to be done.
Located in the heart of Singapore's Civic and Cultural District and in the newly-redeveloped Funan Mall, lyf residents enjoy easy access to eateries, retails, gym and theater in the mall.
Teo noted that the booming millennial segment, which is the fastest growing travel demographic, already forms a quarter of Ascott's customer base and is expected to grow, adding that lyf properties are specially designed to cater to millennials' craving for social connections, collaboration and co-creation.
She said after this first lyf property in Southeast Asia, there will be seven more lyf properties to be opened over the next three years in Bangkok, Fukuoka, Kuala Lumpur, Cebu and Shanghai.
