SINGAPORE – Home-grown firm JustCo will be setting up shop at the former Taste Orchard mall as it debuts a new concept combining its core co-working services with co-living and retail offerings.
The Singapore-founded co-working and flexible workspace operator will launch JustCo Place from September, which it describes as a “live-work-play” lifestyle hub.
It comprises five levels of co-working and retail spaces, and another five levels of co-living apartments.
This is a first for the Orchard stretch, where existing flexible workspaces such as The General Room at 111 Somerset and Industrious at Ngee Ann City have so far offered desks and offices, not homes.
JustCo’s co-working centre will take up approximately 150,000 sq ft of space from basement one to level four – previously occupied by food-focused mall Taste Orchard, run by supermarket chain Hao Mart. This space has been vacant since January 2026 after OG terminated Hao Mart’s lease late in 2025.
Levels three and four will be fully occupied by Deloitte Singapore when the consulting firm moves in this September.
The 160 Orchard Road site was long known as OG Orchard Point before the department store closed in 2022 after 18 years. OG remains the building’s landlord.
The “live-work-play” lifestyle hub is a first for the Orchard stretch.
PHOTO: JUSTCO
In response to queries by The Straits Times on how the leasing partnership with OG came about, JustCo said the company was “constantly in discussions with landlords, brokers and partners about opportunities”.
A spokesperson for JustCo declined to disclose the overall financial investment of the project or details about the lease terms for the multi-year lease partnership, but said the average lease expiry of JustCo’s Singapore portfolio is about eight years.
The rest of the space will be subleased for retail, with about half of the intended 40 units reserved for food and beverage operators. The remaining units will be a mix of lifestyle and wellness brands.
The building’s existing serviced apartments on levels six to 10 – previously managed by OG and closed since May 31 for renovations – will be retrofitted by the landlord into more than 120 co-living apartments spanning 100,000 sq ft.
JustCo will manage the apartments under its new lifestyle brand, JustAt – the group’s entry into the flexible living sector, run on an asset-light management contract model that lets it operate the apartments without owning the property.
The co-living apartments range from studio units to three-bedroom units, with the majority being one-bedroom units of between 400 sq ft and 500 sq ft.
The co-living apartments range from studio units to three-bedroom units, with the majority being one-bedroom units of between 400 sq ft and 500 sq ft.
PHOTO: JUSTCO
Both the retail space and co-living apartments will open from January 2027.
JustCo chief executive officer Kong Wan Sing said the launch of JustCo Place represents another important milestone in the company’s expansion pipeline.
“We are pleased to see such strong market validation of the demand for such workspaces, with a leading global brand committing to occupy our entire co-working space ahead of opening. This reflects the continued demand for high-quality flexible workspaces from enterprise customers, and reinforces our confidence in the long-term fundamentals of the sector.”
Aside from listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in May 2026, JustCo has been on an expansion blitz across Asia, opening new locations in major Asian cities including Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Taipei in 2026. Further outposts in East Asia – Seoul, Tokyo and Yokohama – are slated to open in the fourth quarter.
JustCo shares were priced at 94 cents during its initial public offering but debuted lower on the SGX mainboard on May 22 at 83.5 cents. Its shares were trading at around 55 cents on the morning of July 10.
Sulian Tan-Wijaya, head of retail and deputy head of private wealth at Savills Singapore, said the way a mall’s trade and tenant mix is curated much depends on the owners’ investment objectives.
“Unless the owners are in the business of operating shopping malls, it is much easier to lease the whole retail podium to a single master tenant, which will in turn sub-lease ancillary spaces while maintaining the main spaces for its own use,” she said.
“Apart from department stores, there are very few retail tenants that can take up such a large chunk of space.”
Tan-Wijaya added that having co-working space as an anchor in an Orchard Road building is not ideal for shoppers.
“But since department stores are declining in numbers, there aren’t that many options available.
“Having a retailer as a master tenant is not without risk either, as it takes a lot of effort and resources to fill a mall while ensuring a good tenant mix.”
