Cathy Mo

SINGAPORE-BASED Ascott, the world’s largest international serviced residence operator, opened its first Shenzhen premise in Shekou, Nanshan District yesterday, becoming the second multinational to explore the city’s serviced apartments market.

Somerset Garden City offers 147 stylish studio to three-bedroom apartments to its targeted customers such as expat families, consultants and executives who are looking for work-life balance.

With Somerset as its brand, the project is financed by Ascott International, the largest global serviced residence operator in China. It has 27 properties with 5,300 units in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Dalia, Xi’an, Wuhan, Shenyang and Suzhou.

Ascott International, a subsidiary of Ascott, operates three brands — Ascott, Somerset and Citadines — in 66 cities in 22 countries.

Frasers Hospitality Pte Ltd., another Singapore-headquartered global serviced residence provider, was the first to tap the Shenzhen market when it launched a project in November 2005, teaming up with Shenzhen Qinian Industry & Development Co. Ltd. In January 2006, Frasers opened Shenzhen Fraser Place in the city’s most international community, Shekou, in Nanshan District.

When asked whether the serviced apartments market in the city was still far from saturation although it had Frasers and other so-called serviced apartments provided by domestic companies, Vincent Ting, regional general manager of South China of Ascott International Management China, said there were not many international operators in serviced apartments in Shenzhen compared with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. There was a demand for better products and world-class standards.

Although the city’s economic activity had been affected by the global financial crisis, “we believe that the market has room to grow and we have been consistently searching for opportunities in Luohu and Futian districts,” Ting said yesterday. “In the long run, we believe FDI will remain steady and growth will be healthy.”

Ascott is now working with China Merchants Real Estate (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. on the Ascott Mallien project, targeting top executives and industry leaders. It was expected to open in the second half of next year, Ting said.