Hotel and boomer apartments to be incorporated into mixed use project
LOS ANGELES: A hotel and boomer apartment component is set to be woven into proposed mixed use project.
Veriu Group has brought together its apartment, hotel and build-to-rent platforms under a new brand, as it begins construction of a $100m tower in Adelaide.
The Wakefield St development is described as a first for the city, bringing together short-term accommodation and longer-term living options under one roof.
Scheduled to open in 2028, it will feature 120 Veriu serviced apartments and 120 studios operated under the UKO co-living platform.
The start of construction will be marked with a sod turning ceremony on Tuesday, where new brand LiveStay will also be launched, bringing together the Veriu Hotels & Suites, Punthill Apartment Hotels and UKO co-living and build-to-rent platforms under one banner.
Co-founder Rhys Williams said the Adelaide project would be the group’s first dual-brand development.
“It’s going to be the first combined studio serviced apartment and studio co-living asset in Australia and the first co-living project in Adelaide,” he said.
“So someone could check in for a week as a short-stay guest under our Veriu brand, then they might have a work contract … and they might need an apartment for three or six months whereby they would cross over into our UKO co-living brand.
“That’s a really interesting interplay and makes that tower very unique in Australia, and also emphasises the uniqueness of our umbrella LiveStay business model.
“There’s no other operator in Australia at the moment that is blurring the lines between hotel and serviced apartment operations and residential living under the living sector banner as we’re doing.”
LiveStay’s launch comes amid a rapid growth phase for the group, with close to 6000 rooms and apartments across 93 sites operating or under construction, and an additional six properties set for construction in 2026 and 2027.
New hotel developments are planned across Adelaide, Ryde, Epping, Shepparton, South Yarra and Albury.
The Wakefield St project, led by Adelaide developer Rob Colangelo, will feature a mix of studio and interconnecting rooms, conference spaces, communal spaces, a gym, lobby, guest pantry and carparking.
Mr Williams said LiveStay’s hotel and serviced apartment properties typically catered to guests for stays up to three months, while the UKO co-living offering was typically for stays of three months up to 12 months.
“Co-living is very desirable for young professionals, in the 25 to 35 age category, who want flexible living that’s affordable, and also there’s a sense of community in their building,” he said.
“And when we think about Adelaide and bringing co-living to Adelaide, it’s an extremely conducive market to having co-living and flexible living, because of the infrastructure projects that you’ve got going on.
“Also, residential apartment rents in Adelaide are growing from 8 to 10 per cent … which is very significant, and it shows to us, as operators, that Adelaide, as a CBD, is extremely desirable and undersupplied in this sort of living sector arrangement.”
The Wakefield St development will be LiveStay’s second project in Adelaide, following its Veriu serviced apartment development on King William St, which is due for completion in the first quarter of next year.