Grandson of Genting Group founder leads Cover Projects, carves niche in Singapore’s heritage properties

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

April 4, 2024 7:00 AM SGT

Lim: We understand hospitality, and we see the potential to disrupt the medical hospitality industry in Singapore with our upcoming concept. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)

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Homegrown real estate management company Cover Projects was in the spotlight last year when the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) awarded it the tender for the heritage property at 26 Evans Road last October.

By the close of the tender, SLA had received 25 bids for the site, which were evaluated based on price and quality. Cover Projects submitted the second-highest bid, a $265,000 monthly rate, well above the $165,000 to $168,000 bids submitted by LHN Group and The Assembly Place, which are among Singapore’s biggest co-living operators. The site has a lease term of five-plus-four years.

Lim Keong Wee, co-founder of Cover Projects, is convinced of the project’s viability after conducting detailed feasibility studies with his team.

Cover Projects intends to position the property as an upmarket co-living concept anchored on wellness, preventative care, and community. Keong Wee hopes to create “Singapore’s first wellness-centric residential community” at 26 Evans Road. The project has been branded “The Initial Sama”, derived from the Sanskrit word “Sama”, which means “balanced” or “well-maintained”.

An artist impression of what a room at The Initial Sama could look like. (Picture: Cover Projects)

Genting dynasty

Keong Wee is one of the grandsons of the late Lim Goh Tong, the patriarch and founder of Genting Group, a business empire involved in casinos, hotels, property developments, energy, and biotechnology. Forbes ranked Lim Goh Tong Malaysia’s third-richest man, with a net worth of US$4.3 billion before he passed away in 2007 at the age of 89.

Keong Wee’s father, Lim Chee Wah, is the founder and president of VXL Group of Companies and formerly deputy managing director of Genting Bhd and joint managing director of Asiatic Development. Chee Wah is the brother of Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay, the current chairman of Genting Group.

However, Keong Wee did not join the family business. A trained architect, he obtained his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of East London and worked as an architect at Fosters + Partners and Plasma Studio in London before he left to start the architectural and design firm PAC.

Self-made entrepreneur

He co-founded PAC with Victoria Loh in 2009. The design practice initially focused on the design and master-planning of large-scale hotels and resorts. These include Genting Jurong Hotel in Singapore; the 2022 Winter Olympic Masterplan at Genting Secret Garden Resort in Hebei, China; and the Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort in Nagano, Japan.

The duo co-founded Cover Projects in 2015. According to Keong Wee, it was “an opportunistic expansion” of the architectural and design firm.

Having honed his experience in real estate and hospitality, Keong Wee decided to start a property management firm, leveraging the skills and expertise he picked up while designing large-scale resorts.

PAC also ventured into shophouses in Singapore, focusing on adding value to underutilised assets through design. Cover Projects was a spin-off from PAC, initially focused on owning and operating a series of shophouse hostels. According to Keong Wee, the timing was right, as it coincided with the rise of “experiential travel” popularised by a new generation of millennial travellers.

Cover Projects’ maiden acquisition was a shophouse on 3 Stanley Street, which spawned the launch of Eighteen by Three Cabins, a premium cabin hostel brand, in 2017. Its launch dovetailed with the rise in co-living in Singapore and created a new, more premium niche — well above the typical budget hostels.

In late 2019, Keong Wee wanted to acquire another shophouse to grow the firm’s footprint in the hostel segment. However, when the pandemic struck in early 2020, the firm decided to divest the shophouse on Stanley Street and re-evaluate its business model.

A decision was made to shift towards being asset-light and focusing on managing assets instead. The shophouse at 3 Stanley Street was sold for $15 million, based on a caveat lodged in June 2021.

From ownership to master-lease

“After we sold the shophouse on Stanley Street, we were actively searching for master lease opportunities, with the hope that we might be able to manage an entire building,” says Keong Wee.

The first master lease contract it secured was the management of a 30-room serviced apartment in Balestier, The Initial Residence. The apartment block at 355 Balestier Road has 46 apartments, with a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units.

The Initial Residence Balestier is a serviced apartment managed by Cover Projects. (Picture: Cover Projects)

After securing the master lease in June 2021, Cover Projects spent two months renovating the property before reopening it as The Initial Residence in September of that year. In addition to the residences, Cover Projects incorporated a cafe and shared workspace on the ground floor of the building, which is open to both residents and the public. It is managing the commercial space too.

“We saw the opportunity to put into practice our concept of integrating work-live-play elements within a building and used The Initial Residence as the first product of our brand of city living,” says Keong Wee.

By the end of 2021, the occupancy rate at The Initial Residence had climbed to 85%. It has remained consistent at that level for the past two years. In the immediate post-Covid period, the average length of stay was three months, notes Keong Wee. Since then, he has seen an increase in business and leisure travellers occupying the rooms for an average of 10 days.

Keong Wee notes that the Initial Residence’s proximity to Novena Health City has also contributed to the rise in medical tourists among its occupants.

The Initial Residence Balestier combines serviced apartments with shared workspaces (pictured) and a café. (Picture: Cover Projects)

Repurposing heritage assets

From The Initial Residence, Cover Projects became interested in managing state-owned heritage properties. In 2021, the company submitted a bid to manage the former Bukit Timah Fire Station. According to Keong Wee, the concept was a community hub anchored by co-living apartments and integrated with urban farming and other lifestyle concepts.

“Borrowing from our experience master planning the 2022 Winter Olympic Masterplan at Genting Secret Garden Resort in China, we envisioned a social village, and we wanted to introduce sports facilities as part of the placemaking effort,” he says.

The concept was appealing enough that Cover Projects was among the bids shortlisted by SLA for the management of the conservation site, but the company lost out in terms of its bid price, says Keong Wee.

Although Cover Projects did not win the tender, he was undaunted. And when the property at 26 Evans Road was launched for tender, the firm was determined to win the site.

Keong Wee says: “It forced us to take a more disciplined approach to the business aspect of our concept, tightening our evaluation on capital expenditure, lease tenure, the character of the neighbourhood, and the importance of connectivity when adjusting our concept proposal.”

Cover Projects' concept for the heritage building at 26 Evans Road will focus on two key aspects of wellness: preventative care and post-recovery care (Photo: SLA)

‘Wellness-centric community’

The heritage building at 26 Evans Road sits on a sprawling 153,821 sq ft site off Bukit Timah and is within walking distance of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The concept will focus on two key aspects of wellness: preventative care and post-recovery care.

“The benefit of such a property is its natural setting, with plenty of verdant greenery and proximity to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which already lends itself to this facet of wellness,” says Keong Wee.

The site is a four-minute drive to Gleneagles Hospital and Medical Centre on Napier Road. Keong Wee hopes to capitalise on patients at the private hospital who are looking for a wellness-centric community to stay in while they recover. “We understand hospitality, and we see the potential to disrupt the medical hospitality industry in Singapore with our upcoming concept,” he adds.

Cover Projects won the tender for a heritage site at 26 Evans Road with its concept of a shared wellness village. (Picture: Cover Projects)

Another of the site’s attractions is the central courtyard, surrounded by several low-rise conservation buildings that are a mix of one, two and three storeys. “Courtyards are an important focal zone in designing a social space,” says Keong Wee.

The conserved property will be repurposed into 74 serviced apartments, largely studios and one- and two-bedroom units. The interiors will be “retro-modern, integrating biophilic elements and natural furnishings”.

The design and layout of the one-bedroom units will also cater to the needs of executive travellers arriving in Singapore for a combination of business and leisure. The studios will be positioned to appeal to some C-suite executives, while the two bedrooms are designed for small families.

Cover Projects will be given the keys to 26 Evans Road later this month, and The Initial Sama is scheduled to open sometime in 2Q2025.

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