Singapore’s long-stay accommodation sector has a new benchmark: Mber Co-Living & Serviced Apartments in Serangoon, the first purpose-built development in the city-state to combine co-living and serviced residence products under a single roof, drawing deliberate parallels between institutional hospitality design and neighbourhood community building.
Key Facts At A Glance
- Developer: Aw & Sons Capital
- Location: 2 Teck Chye Terrace, Serangoon, Singapore (District 19), on the former Lim Tua Tow Market site
- Architect: Formwerkz Architects; interiors by Afternaut
- Product mix: private en-suite co-living rooms and three- and four-bedroom serviced apartments
- Total units: 61
- Communal spaces: 14, including coworking zones, shared kitchens, libraries, games rooms, and rooftop gardens
- Wellness facility: GYMber, featuring an ice bath, infrared sauna, and wellness pool
- Community programme: Mber Club, offering workshops, wellness activities, and resident events
- Target occupants: internationally mobile professionals, students, and long-stay visitors
- Key proximate hubs: Seletar Aerospace Park, Punggol Digital District, Australian International School, Stamford American International School
- Transport: seven-minute walk to Serangoon MRT (Circle Line and North-East Line intersect); seven-minute walk to NEX Shopping Mall
- Publicly stated claim: Singapore’s first purpose-built co-living and serviced residence development
A New Category In Singapore’s Long-Stay Market
Aw & Sons Capital has introduced Mber Co-Living & Serviced Apartments in Serangoon, describing it as Singapore’s first purpose-built co-living and serviced residence development. Built on the former Lim Tua Tow Market site along Teck Chye Terrace, the property combines co-living rooms and serviced apartments with shared work, wellness, and community spaces.
The distinction between purpose-built and converted is commercially significant in Singapore’s long-stay sector. Existing co-living operators in the city-state, including Coliwoo and Habyt, have primarily adapted residential or commercial buildings to co-living use rather than constructing from the ground up. Mber is claimed to be the first development designed entirely for this dual-product format from the planning stage, allowing the building’s architecture, circulation, and communal infrastructure to be engineered around long-stay community living rather than retrofitted to accommodate it.
Designed by Formwerkz Architects, the development blends references to the former market with contemporary residential design. Interiors by Afternaut include communal spaces and flexible living areas for long-stay residents.
The Product And The Philosophy
The project combines private co-living rooms and serviced apartments with common work, wellness, and community areas. Room categories include private en-suite co-living rooms as well as three- and four-bedroom serviced apartments. In total, the property features 14 communal spaces including coworking zones, shared kitchens, libraries, games rooms, rooftop gardens, and a fitness and recovery facility called GYMber featuring an ice bath, infrared sauna, and wellness pool.
The Mber Club sits alongside the physical facilities as the programming layer of the offering, providing workshops and wellness activities along with community events for residents and members.
Josh Hu, managing director of Aw & Sons Capital, framed the project’s intent in terms that go beyond accommodation provision. “Cities are full of buildings, but very few places. The places people remember are the ones where life naturally gathers, where conversations happen, ideas exchanged, and relationships form over time. When we started thinking about Mber Co-Living & Serviced Apartments, we weren’t just designing rooms or apartments. We were asking how a building could encourage that kind of everyday interaction.”
Location Strategy And Target Occupant Profile
The property targets internationally mobile professionals, students, and long-stay visitors seeking accommodation close to key employment and education hubs such as Seletar Aerospace Park, Punggol Digital District, the Australian International School, and Stamford American International School.
The location calculus reflects a deliberate move away from the Singapore CBD and Orchard Road corridors that anchor most premium serviced apartment stock. By positioning in Serangoon, Aw & Sons Capital is betting that proximity to employment zones in the northeastern corridor of the island, combined with strong MRT connectivity, constitutes a viable alternative address for mobile professionals and relocating families who do not require or cannot afford a central location.
Market Context
Singapore’s long-stay accommodation market has expanded significantly since 2020, driven by an increase in corporate relocations, expatriate inflows tied to financial services and technology sector growth, and the city-state’s continued attractiveness as a regional headquarters location. The co-living format, which bundles accommodation with community programming and shared amenity spaces, has gained traction among younger professionals and short-to-medium-term international residents who prioritise social infrastructure alongside physical comfort. Mber’s arrival as a purpose-built product signals developer confidence that the format has sufficient demand to justify ground-up construction rather than conversion, a more capital-intensive commitment that implies a longer investment horizon and greater conviction about the segment’s durability.
The 61-unit scale positions the property as a boutique offering rather than a volume play, consistent with the community-centred positioning and the programming model, which requires a resident base small enough to sustain genuine social cohesion. Publicly available information does not include pricing details or occupancy targets.