Goldfame Group

Goldfame entered Cambodian property from an industrial background. Founded in Hong Kong in 1992, the group spent many years operating in the country through manufacturing. Its current corporate site lists seven divisions, from knitted garments and printing to financial services and property development. Real estate is organised through Urban Hub (Cambodia), a separate operating company founded in 2012.

That origin matters. Goldfame did not build a public identity around selling apartments directly to individual buyers. Its role is closer to that of a long-term corporate partner and investor, while Urban Hub and Urban Living Solutions are more closely associated with project delivery and the resident-facing experience.

The factory was retained and the neighbourhood built around it

The defining result is Urban Village and Factory Phnom Penh in the southern part of the capital. Urban Village Phase I contained 828 apartments, with construction beginning in late 2017 and handover scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.

The most consequential decision concerned the existing industrial site. Sixteen factory buildings across 3.4 hectares were not cleared for a conventional new master plan. They were repurposed as Factory Phnom Penh, bringing in offices, coworking, workshops, galleries, sports, cafés and event venues.

Many Phnom Penh projects promise an active mixed-use environment after the homes are completed. Here, a substantial part of the social and working life developed beside the residences as a separate operating cluster. Owners gained a real surrounding place rather than only an amenity list contained within a podium.

Awards recognised the idea; operations determine whether it lasts

Urban Village won Best Condo Development (Asia) at the 2019 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, while Urban Village and Factory Phnom Penh received Best Co-Working Space (Asia) in 2020. The awards belong to Urban Hub and the named projects, but they give Goldfame a more meaningful property reputation than general statements about diversification.

Several years after handover, the relevant measures are different: whether Factory retains tenants and activity, how the residential buildings are managed and whether the relationship between housing and public space remains convincing. Adaptive reuse can create character, but it requires continuous programming and management; otherwise, a lively industrial campus can become an attractive but empty backdrop.

Goldfame is most interesting not as a developer with many repeated schemes, but as part of the team behind a rare Phnom Penh district built around existing industrial fabric. The group’s clearly documented property footprint remains concentrated around Urban Hub. Its reputation therefore depends less on portfolio breadth and more on whether Urban Village and Factory Phnom Penh continue to operate as one connected, active environment.