The Great Room to open ninth location – a 30,000 sq ft space at Stamford Place
Su Anne Mi stepped up as CEO of The Great Room, after former CEO Jaelle Ang stepped down in August (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Premier flexible workspace operator The Great Room will open a 30,000 sq ft centre at Stamford Place, a mixed-use development located at 61 Stamford Road. It is a makeover of the former four-storey commercial building Stamford Court, which was jointly acquired by Elevate Capital, headed by Singaporean property mogul Ashish Manchharam, and PGIM Real Estate for $132 million in August 2024, in a deal brokered by Cushman & Wakefield.
The new co-working space will mark The Great Room’s ninth location in Singapore, says Su Anne Mi, CEO and co-founder of The Great Room. Mi took over the position from Jaelle Ang after the latter stepped down from her role this month (August).
Located at the intersection of Stamford Road and Hill Street in the Civic District, Stamford Place is close to City Hall, Bras Basah, and Dhoby Ghaut. It also enjoys proximity to commercial nodes like Bugis/Beach Road, Suntec, and the CBD, as well as lifestyle enclaves at Clarke Quay and Orchard Road.
The Great Room’s hospitality-led co-working concept at Stamford Place will occupy two floors at the upcoming Stamford Place, which also features other new offerings, including retail on the first level and boutique serviced residences on the top level.
“The collaboration (with The Great Room) is a reflection of our vision for Stamford Place — where placemaking is driven by purpose and partnerships,” says Manchharam.
After its repositioning and rejuvenation, the new Stamford Place will have new retail offerings, serviced apartments, and The Great Room (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Drawing start-ups in creative, media and lifestyle
According to Mi, the workspace at the new centre will be tailored to attract companies and start-ups in the creative, media, and lifestyle sectors. Demand for high-quality flexible workspaces in city-fringe locations has grown rapidly in recent years, she notes.
Stamford Place marks the second collaboration between Manchharam and The Great Room. The first was at the former Eu Yan Sang Building, a row of four conservation shophouses at 265 to 271 South Bridge Road. The Great Room outlet there spans 22,000 sq ft.
Back then, Manchharam was the founder and CEO of 8M Real Estate before it was acquired by Crane Capital in October 2023 for an undisclosed sum.
Ashish Manchharam, founder and managing partner of Elevate Capital (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The Great Room’s new space at Stamford Place is slated to open sometime in 2H2026. “It’s nice to have a repeat relationship with a trusted partner, and being part of this revitalised development is a natural fit for us,” says Mi of the firm’s relationship with Manchharam.
Since its inception, The Great Room has pursued an asset-light business model, opting to partner with like-minded asset owners and be frequently located in Grade-A commercial spaces.
New spaces
Australian real estate group Lendlease is another asset owner with which The Great Room works closely. Last year, The Great Room assumed management of 72,000 sq ft of flexible workspace at Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) Tower 3, which is part of the mixed-use project integrated with Paya Lebar MRT Station, developed by Lendlease. The co-working space has been managed by Lendlease since 2019, as part of its enterprise workspace offering in PLQ.
Last December, The Great Room opened a 25,360 sq ft workspace at One O’Connell Street, an office building in Sydney, Australia, which Lendlease owns and manages. The Great Room opened its first Australian centre, a 12,900 sq ft centre at 85 Castlereagh Street in Sydney, in February 2024.
These two Australian openings coincide with The Great Room’s rapid expansion in the region since New York-based global flexible space operator Industrious acquired the firm in May 2022.
Other new locations in the past three years include a 21,000 sq ft space at the Cheung Kong Centre in Hong Kong and a 37,000 sq ft space at Park Silom in Bangkok. Next year, it will also open a 36,000 sq ft space at the upcoming 33-storey new office tower, Shaw Centre in Singapore.
Collaborations with Industrious, CBRE
“The Great Room will work on entrenching its market position in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Sydney,” says Mi. The bold expansionary stance is due to the support it enjoys from global real estate firm CBRE, which acquired the New York-based flexible workspace operator Industrious in 2020. Industrious, in turn, acquired The Great Room in 2022.
Read also: The Great Room CEO Jaelle Ang to step down
Industrious, which has a global portfolio of over 200 locations, is in the process of integrating with CBRE’s Building Operations & Experience business arm. In addition to her role as CEO of The Great Room, Mi has also been appointed as managing director of Asia Pacific (Apac) at Industrious. “With the support of CBRE, there is a renewed focus at Industrious to significantly grow our market presence in the Apac region,” she says.
The Great Room’s acquisition by industrious in 2022 has fuelled a bold expansionary strategy in recent years (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
It will involve deepening its presence in existing markets by expanding the number of centres under The Great Room, as well as breaking into other major gateway cities. In some markets, Industrious will grow through strategic acquisitions of existing local operators, in addition to organic growth.
Regional expansion
In each of the four cities in the Apac region where it has a market presence, namely Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Sydney, The Great Room and Industrious see opportunities to grow its market share in each city to about 20 locations.
Most of the regional expansion will be driven by The Great Room. “As co-founder, I’ve been with The Great Room since day one, and I know where we shine in the market as a brand, as well as where we need to grow to support our long-term aspirations and ambitions,” she says.
Next year will also see The Great Room open the doors at its 36,000 sq ft centre at Shaw Tower (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
While The Great Room is grounded in its strong design sensibility and expertise in local markets as an established brand, Industrious will bring the scale of its global network, operational expertise, and enterprise scale, adds Mi.
Looking ahead, part of her focus in 2025 and 2026 will be shepherding a more thorough integration between The Great Room, Industrious, and CBRE. “Doing so will help us unlock a stronger capacity to serve large enterprise clients and their entire corporate real estate requirements across the region,” she says.
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