CDL invests 72m yuan in China co-working space operator Distrii

CITY Developments Limited (CDL) announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement to invest 72 million yuan (S$14.8 million) for a 24 per cent stake in Distrii, an operator of co-working spaces in China.

This will be Distrii's first international foray outside China. It will lease more than 60,000 square feet of space at CDL-owned Republic Plaza Tower 1 in Singapore's Central Business District.

Expected to be one of the largest co-working spaces in Singapore, it will integrate food and beverage, entertainment, recreational and office facilities. It is expected to open in the first half of 2018 as the space is still currently leased out.

Distrii will also continue to expand in China. With its nine locations in Shanghai at 80 per cent capacity, it will be opening a new facility in Beijing in the first half of 2017 and plans to further expand in this city as well as in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other global gateway cities.

Sherman Kwek, CDL deputy chief executive officer, said: "With the burgeoning sharing economy, an increasingly mobile workforce and a greater requirement for flexibility, we see strong potential in co-working spaces; and the demand for them has been rapidly growing. Our investment in Distrii enables us to immediately gain entry into the sector and will contribute to CDL's long-term recurring income streams."