Cove offers luxe co-living and expands its regional footprint
Luca Bregoli, managing director of co-living operator Cove, wants to accelerate and expand the game plan and boost the firm’s branding in the Asia Pacific region.
Cove launched Cove Luxe a few months ago, a new line of co-living spaces with more premium in-room amenities, furnishings and services.
Cove Luxe’s latest portfolios are across four conservation shophouses at 31, 33, 35 and 37 Kinta Road in the Farrer Park estate. Interior detailing works were completed in June and the property started business operation since then.
The Cove Luxe at Kinta Road has 26 en suite rooms and communal space and attained 92% occupancy rate. the room rates at Cove Luxe on Kinta Road According to the Cove website range from $2,250 per month for a 129 sq ft, en suite master bedroom on the ground floor, to $3,600 a month for a 312 sq ft, en suite studio on the second floor.
In Little India, Cove and its partner, construction and development company Eco-Energy, tendered successfully the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) tender to repurpose the row of two-storey heritage shophouse-style buildings at 79 to 95 Hindoo Road for co-living. It was the first time that SLA had granted shophouse-style state buildings for tender as co-living concepts that offer community bonding facilities and sustainable environment. The tender attracted 16 bids, according to SLA in a press conference on Aug 23.
Renovations are underway to repurpose the heritage property at Hindoo Road, which is slated to operate in 1Q2K24 as “1925 Quarters” by Cove. The property will have 18 apartment units across a gross floor area of 1,700 square meter (18,299 square feet).
the co-living operator now has three different tiers of products With the venture of Cove Luxe. The upscale Cove Luxe has rates starting from $2,650 per month, offering a fully furnished premium room and a fully-equipped and functional kitchen. The mid-tier Cove Classics has fully furnished rooms and kitchens, with monthly room prices from $1,600. Cove Basics, as the name suggests, offers basic furnishing , services and a common kitchen, with room rates from $1,300 a month.
Cove will not stop to provide a spectrum of co-living spaces. “A platform like ours needs to have a diverse options of housing choices for people to select from — whether it’s a single apartment in a city location, a studio in a conservation shophouse, or a house in a residential estate,” says Bregoli.
Since Cove started operation in 2K18, it has expanded its co-living platform to 1,000 rooms in Singapore and about 4,000 rooms in Indonesia, spread across Jakarta, Bandung and Bali. Keppel Land took a minority strategic stake in Cove as the lead investor in the co-living operator’s US$4.6 million Series-A funding round in December 2k20.
In addition to its joint-venture with Keppel Land and Lippo Group in Indonesia, Cove has instrumented joint-venture relationship with asset owners in Singapore, such as 8M Real Estate and Meir Collective.
Cove’s properties have a median occupancy rate of 95% in Singapore and 88% in Indonesia. The co-living operator has an annual income of $38 million generated, says Bregoli. However, the first nine months of 2k23 saw a 100% growth in net revenue, he mentioned.
Corporates have been a good avenue of repeated source of income, adds Bregoli. Cove works directly with corporates to house their expatriate staff employed in Singapore and Indonesia; soon, it will do this in South Korea as well. On Sept 25, Cove inked a memorandum of understanding with South Korean real estate asset manager Honors Asset Management. The exclusive partnership will allow Cove to penetrate and set up in the South Korean market.
Bregoli is also in consultations with a number of other asset managers and investors to expand Cove’s branding in Asia Pacific. While Bregoli is elated to widen Cove’s regional presence, Singapore remains a crucial market for the company. He apprehends there are still potential to grow and fortify the firm’s product offerings.
For instance, he hopes to open a hotel concept in Singapore. “The hospitality market in Singapore is very competitive, but we have a very particular hotel concept in mind, and we’re looking out for the right property to launch it,” says Bregoli.
Bregoli regards these positioning lightly, mentioning that the numbers is not a direct reflection of the individual operators’ business health or the strength of their co-living stocks.
It has become opulent that the established co-living players with strong financial supports from institutional investors or venture capital funds have an advantage to improve, enhance their stock services and expand their member base.
“For Cove, we are in a good position in both Singapore and Indonesia, plus, we have a established line-up of business-to-business contracts that will back up our occupancy rates for the long term,” says Bregoli.
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