Ascott mulls more serviced apartment projects

Singapore based Ascott Group Ltd is seeking to expand its business in the serviced apartment industry in Vietnam, with future investment focused on medium-quality apartments for lease, a top executive said yesterday.
Cameron Ong, CEO of Ascott, told a function yesterday in HCM City that the group would invest to develop apartments of the medium category known as Citadines in Vietnam. Worldwide, the corporation currently manages serviced apartments of three different categories, namely Ascott,
Somerset and Citadines, with Ascott units being the top-notch residence for high-income earners.
Ong said business in Vietnam’s serviced residence industry looked highly prospective given the increasing number of foreign investors in the country. “We are excited about the outlook for Vietnam’s serviced residence industry,” Ong said, explaining that demands for high-quality apartments would grow owing to the increasing number of multinationals coming to do business in Vietnam.
Ascott currently operates four serviced apartment projects in Vietnam, namely the Somerset HCM City, Somerset Chancellor Court, Somerset Grand Hanoi and Somerset West Lake, with a combined 563 apartments. The total investment contributed by Ascott in these projects amount to US$150 million, which is a small fraction compared to US$22 billion worth of properties under its management worldwide. “Therefore, Ascott wants to bolster its operations in Vietnam,” Ong said.
Ascott said it has a high occupancy rate of above 90% at the four above-mentioned projects, and the success has prompted Ascottto think more investment in Vietnam to diversify products. However, Ong declined to elaborate on the forthcoming projects.
Ascotto currently manages nearly 14,000 apartments in 40 cities in 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Category: Business