Y.X blends work and play with VR gaming and study spaces at Y83

Y83 is the first student accommodation in Hong Kong to include a VR gaming area.

ACKNOWLEDGING that play is essential during and outside school, operator Y.X ensures its accommodations support student residents in balancing their studies with leisure time by providing gaming facilities.

The latest development from Y.X, Y83 at 83 Wuhu Street, Hung Hom, is the first student accommodation to include a VR gaming area.

Y83 is a 25-storey property converted from a hotel and has 374 rooms that can accommodate almost 600 students.

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Y83’s XR zone has Meta Quest 3, a VR gaming headset. The accommodation also has a “Y Zone gaming area and common room” where student residents can play board games, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch gaming consoles. Every student accommodation project by Y.X includes the Y Zone gaming area.

For students not into gaming, Y.X has other facilities like gyms, a cross-fit zone, and an activity room where they can “cultivate their interests and expand their social circles.”

Y.X is also doing its part to help students explore different interests by offering different activities to their residents such as culinary classes, creative art workshops, coffee art barista workshops, Chinese New Year’s Eve dinners, bowling days, movie nights and more. These activities are done across the three apartment complexes of Y.X.

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“By offering myriad opportunities to interact as a community, Y.X aims to help young adults broaden their social circles and seamlessly adapt to the local lifestyle,” Andrew Chan, chief investment officer of Crystal Investment Limited, the parent company of Y.X, told Hong Kong Business.

Chan said that Y.X showcases student artwork from their drawing and craft workshops throughout its common areas, enabling students to “participate in the process of improving their living environment.”

Whilst Y.X’s accommodations provide ample leisure options, students can also enjoy dedicated study spaces like The Collab Space, Focus Space areas, and Zoom Room, all secluded from external noises to allow them to focus on their studies.

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“Y.X is a place where you rest, work and share with ‘only’ students from multiple universities,” Chan said. “The variety of social connections with only student residents and a hassle-free living environment make Y.X accommodations an ideal place for students.”

In addition to offering a balanced lifestyle for student residents, Y83 takes pride in being a safe and healthy place to live.

For 2023-2024, Y83 received authorised certifications for good indoor air quality testing and has maintained the international WELL Health-Safety Rating for two consecutive years.

“In all Y.X properties, each floor has a shared pantry where students who enjoy cooking can prepare delicious meals with their roommates. Additionally, drinking water provided in the pantry is filtered with 3M water filtration to safeguard students’ health,” Chan said.

Sustainable living

When Y.X reimagined Y83 from a hotel to what it is today, the operator did more than just modify its physical appearance. Beyond shifting from cool tones to mainly orange and incorporating warmer, brighter colours to create an energetic and youthful ambience for residents, Y.X has ensured that Y83 is a sustainable development.

Along with 3M filters, Y83 boasts smart building solutions including chiller system optimisation, enabling sustainable operation through the support of CLPe, a subsidiary of CLP Holding Limited, and local startup i2Cool Limited.

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True to its community-building mission, Y83 organises monthly energy-saving challenges for its residents, rewarding those who minimise their energy usage.

The various ESG recognitions Y83 has received, including EDGE, Indoor Air Quality (iAQ) (Good Class Standard), and the Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification (HKGOC) Energywi$e Certificate, are also a testament to its sustainability.

High occupancy

All these attributes of Y83 have helped it achieve 100% occupancy for the academic year 2023/24.

Chan also attributed the property's appeal to its proximity to prominent local universities like Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Metropolitan University, which are 15 minutes and 20 minutes away, respectively.

Also, it is just a five to seven-minute walk from Ho Man Tin and Whampoa MTR stations and is close to various international eateries, supermarkets, and a shopping mall.

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“Location is important to students as we believe time is better spent on many things other than travelling between school and dormitory,” stressed Chan when he discussed why Y.X chose Hung Hom for Y83.

With Y83 experiencing an average annual rent increase of approximately 10%, Chan believes the private student accommodation market in Hong Kong will see further growth.

“The rapid increase in the number of non-local students has further driven the rise in demand for student housing in the city. We believe this trend will continue,” said Chan. With this, he added: “Y.X will also continue the planning on investment in order to fulfill the demand for Hong Kong private student accommodation.”