Freecity Innovation Insights No.16 – The “Hotelification” of the Living Sector
I am delighted to share some news that has been a long time in the making: Freecity has appointed Accor as its Living Sector Management Partner, which signals there first move into the sector. We are very proud of this partnership, as it extends our integrated developer/builder model into the operating side of the business, with Freecity Living launched as the operational arm of Freecity Group, following Freecity Development, Freecity Construction, and Space Labs Australia.
Under a white-label agreement, Accor will manage leasing, building operations, resident services, community programming and amenities across Freecity’s build-to-rent, co-living and student accommodation portfolio, with bookings running through our new Freecity consumer brand.
The partnership brings together complementary strengths. Freecity brings a Living Sector development portfolio of more than $4 billion and a pipeline of over 4,000 apartments, giving Accor an entry into a new asset class. Accor brings a globally recognised brand, with decades of experience running hotels and serviced apartments, and real scale, with more than 5,600 hotels and 10,000 food and beverage venues worldwide and its Accor ALL loyalty program. Lawrence Zheng, Freecity’s Co-Founder and Joint CEO, said what Accor brings across service-oriented management, supply chain, food and beverage and resident rewards “will fundamentally change how people experience rental living”.
The synergies between Hotel and other Living Sector products
The “hotelification” of the Living Sector is looking to planning a building backwards from how it will run and borrow what hotels do well: treating service as part of the product and letting one brand own the relationship from enquiry to move-in and daily services. The Living Sector makes this possible. A single owner holding the whole building for the long term creates an alignment of interest between Owner and Resident, so the resident becomes a customer to retain through high-quality service. For designers and developers, that means bringing the operator in at concept stage and designing for lifecycle cost and operations.
I believe the next opportunity lies in the synergies when a hotel and Living Sector Assets share the same site. Where a hotel sits alongside build-to-rent, co-living or student accommodation in mixed-use precincts, operational staff and resources can be shared across them, from front desk and concierge to cleaning, maintenance, food and beverage, amenity and back-of-house. Residents get consistent service, and the overall cost of operating the assets comes down, delivering operational productivity and economies of scale.
Freecity Living
Ahead of the partnership announcement, we also launched our new consumer brand and website – Freecity Living, developed with Sydney creative agency Chello over many months of work. This is a big shift for us as a developer and builder, as it brings our living sector communities under one identity, built around the idea of ‘Live for Life’: greater freedom, flexibility and choice in where and how people live, with professionally managed homes designed around wellbeing, sustainability and connection.
Click Here to visit Freecity Living
Written by Steven Mann
Published: 21 October 2026