The Assembly Place targets younger crowd with launch of Gather House capsule hotel

At 43, Eugene Lim makes a point of keeping up with what appeals to younger consumers. The CEO of Catalist-listed community living operator The Assembly Place (TAP) has taken up Hyrox, joined an ice-bath club and started Pilates — activities that double as market research.

“You have to be personally involved, go to these places, observe the young people and talk to them in order to understand what they want,” he says.

That philosophy is increasingly shaping TAP’s expansion beyond conventional co-living into student accommodation, hotels, wellness-focused developments and other hospitality concepts.

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Its latest is Gather House, a capsule hotel on South Bridge Road, targeting travellers under 25.

The idea came partly from Lim’s memories of travelling with friends when he was younger, and sharing hotel rooms on a budget.

“If you have three or four friends in one hotel room, there will always be one or two persons who will end up on the floor in a sleeping bag,” he says. “We have all done that when we were young.”

Capsule stays for young travellers

Singapore’s growing calendar of major concerts has added to its appeal among regional travellers. The city hosted Taylor Swift, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran in 2024, followed by Blackpink, Jason Derulo and Doja Cat in 2025. This year’s line-up includes BTS, BigBang and The Weeknd.

As of June 2026, Singapore’s average nightly hotel room rate stood at $271, according to the Singapore Tourism Analytics Network. Economy-tier rooms averaged about $117 a night, while mid-tier rooms averaged $192.

Rates can climb further during peak periods. “If you are still a student or in your mid- to late-20s and have just started work, a holiday in Singapore with your friends will not be cheap,” says Lim.

TAP soft-launched Gather House at the four-storey shophouse at 65 South Bridge Road in early August. The adjoining 63 South Bridge Road is expected to open in mid-September. Together, the two buildings will have 132 beds.

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“We are targeting young travellers who want to come to Singapore for concerts and live events, but find existing hotel room rates too expensive,” says Lim.

Guests can choose from men-only, women-only or mixed rooms with shared bathrooms. Each bed, described as a “pod”, comes with privacy curtains, lights, a ledge and charging points for a phone and other devices, and knobs for hanging clothes. Each guest is also provided with a locker for luggage and valuables.

Since the soft launch, the 72 beds at 65 South Bridge Road have seen occupancy approach 100% on weekends and around 80% on weekdays. More than 90% of guests are foreigners, mostly from Southeast Asia, China and South Korea, says TAP.

The introductory rate is $50 a night, says Lim. When Gather House is fully opened in mid-September, rates are expected to range from $60 to $65 a night.

TAP has a 10% stake in the joint venture that owns 63 and 65 South Bridge Road. Its partners are Apricot Capital (the family office of the Teo family behind Super Group beverage empire), and Eric Low, TAP’s non-executive chairman and substantial shareholder.

The South Bridge Road properties, located on the edge of Chinatown and the CBD, were acquired in 2024 for an undisclosed sum, according to a property title search.

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Following members through different life stages

TAP’s portfolio has expanded well beyond its original co-living business.

Since Lim founded the company in 2019, TAP has moved into student accommodation, hotels and intergenerational co-living, including accommodation for seniors. It has also ventured into hostel-style housing for healthcare workers and workers’ dormitories with TS Group.

TAP currently has a pipeline of 2,100 keys targeted to become operational over the next two years.

Still, about 85% of TAP’s more than 10,000 members are under 35, according to Lim. About 95% are foreign nationals. “We want our members to journey with us through the different stages of their lives,” he says.

Its student accommodation concept Campus opened as a 426-bed facility at Telok Kurau in October 2023, targeting junior college, polytechnic and university students.

n late 2024, TAP launched Stay, aimed at students aged 13 to 15, in four black-and-white colonial-era bungalows at Woodleigh Park owned by national water agency PUB.

TAP and TS Group followed in June 2025 with their intergenerational co-living space at Commune @ Henderson, created by refurbishing and repurposing the former Henderson Primary School. The partners secured the site through a Singapore Land Authority (SLA) tender.

That same month, TAP entered the hotel segment with Social on Outram, a 26-room property occupying a four-storey pre-war shophouse along Outram Road.

The 26-room Social on Mayo in the Jalan Besar area followed in October 2025. Room rates at the two Social properties range from about $118 to $180 a night, says Lim.

With fewer than 100 rooms each, however, both remain boutique hotels. Lim’s ambition is to eventually operate on a larger scale.

In March 2026, TAP, together with joint-venture partners Apricot Capital and Low, acquired the former Lian Huat Building, an 11-storey freehold commercial property at 163 Tras Street, for $90 million.

TAP holds a 10% stake in the joint venture. “Our strategy is to remain asset-light,” says Lim.

URA has granted provisional permission to change the building’s use from commercial to hotel. Lim intends to convert it into a 168-room hotel, also branded Social.

“We are hoping that by the time the asset [at Tras Street] is ready, TAP will have built an organic following of tourists who choose to stay at our hotels because the brand is forward-thinking, a bit edgy and very relatable,” he says.

Phoenix Park goes big on wellness

TAP’s biggest undertaking to date is Phoenix Park. In June, TAP and TS Home, a subsidiary of TS Group, secured the master tenancy for the sprawling site at 300 to 320 Tanglin Road after submitting the highest of seven bids in an SLA tender.

The partners offered monthly rent of $404,888 for an initial five-year term, with an option to renew for another four years. TAP holds a 39% stake in the joint venture.

They intend to transform the 610,000 sq ft site, which contains 33 conserved colonial buildings, into Phoenix Park Wellness Village. Billed as “Singapore’s largest co-living destination”, it will have more than 700 keys, complemented by commercial space with F&B and retail outlets, community spaces, sports and wellness facilities.

Student accommodation will make up the majority of the more than 700 keys, although there will be some serviced apartments. The mix could range from studios to two-, three- and four-bedroom units with en suite bathrooms.

The partners are scheduled to take over the site in October and plan to open it in phases, with the first phase targeted for 1Q2027.

Wellness will be a major component. Lim is in talks with a Hyrox-focused gym operator and also wants to create a 500m running loop within the grounds. Plans also include a sports recovery and wellness centre with ice baths, hot baths, saunas and infrared light therapy.

He is also in discussions with padel and pickleball operators on setting up courts at Phoenix Park.

“We are bringing together our accumulated expertise and that of our joint-venture partners to create a meaningful co-living mega wellness village,” says Lim.

Creating communities around AI

For Lim, however, the physical facilities are only part of the proposition. He places equal emphasis on curating programmes and creating communities around shared interests.

That thinking is also behind TAP’s move into AI-focused co-living. In May, TAP entered into a tenancy agreement with Char Yong (Dabu) Association, one of Singapore’s oldest clan associations. It plans to convert two adjoining blocks at 27 and 29 Lorong 22 Geylang into what it calls an “AI-powered co-living development”.

The development in Geylang will include 80 co-living rooms, a dedicated AI Lab with workspaces, and a community hub. The lease is for 15 years, with an option to renew for another five years.

Lim envisages the AI Lab as an ecosystem for entrepreneurs and one-person companies (OPCs) to collaborate and develop AI tools and consultancy services that help businesses use AI to operate more effectively with small teams.

“We already have a pool of AI engineers and scientists working with us to host community nights and teach our members how to use AI to help solve issues,” he says. “I want to attract AI natives and OPCs to be part of this ecosystem.”

With Phoenix Park positioned largely as student accommodation, Lim expects the AI community nights to attract members from there too.

Taking Social overseas

TAP is also expanding outside Singapore, with Malaysia and Hong Kong among its target markets.

In September, it plans to launch the 66-room Social in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

Lim expects the hotel to benefit from TAP’s growing emphasis on wellness and fitness communities. Kuala Lumpur is scheduled to host its first Hyrox event in December, and members of one Hyrox community in Singapore already intend to travel there and stay at Social, he says.

The hotel will have a gym equipped with Hyrox competition-grade equipment, as well as a Hyrox recovery centre that includes an ice bath and sauna. It will also offer a healthy breakfast selection.

For Lim, such concepts come back to the same question that has shaped TAP’s expansion: What does its predominantly young customer base want next?

Even TAP’s management team has undergone Hyrox training. Lim believes being on the ground and participating in these activities has helped the company shape brands, events and community programmes that resonate with its target audience.

Keeping up can be tiring, he acknowledges. “Our ambition is always to stay ahead of the curve and remain relatable to young people,” he adds.