Urban Living Solutions (ULS)

Urban Living Solutions did not begin with the question of how many apartments it could sell. Its work asks what should happen around those apartments after the launch campaign is over. Founded by Kimleang Kean in 2016, the company repeatedly connects housing with work, public space, small business and cultural activity.

That language can easily become a marketing cliché. ULS has several physical tests of the idea: Urban Loft, Urban Village and Factory Phnom Penh, Rose Apple Square and Bakong Village.

Key facts

Projects in the NovAsia catalogue

Three ULS properties we have covered in detail:

• Odom Tower — Grade A offices (Singapore standard) on Norodom Boulevard in BKK1. The only property in the catalogue with a contractual income program: per the developer, 8% net GRR per year and a 110% buy-back in year 5. Managed by IHG (Vignette Collection), LEED Gold certification (preliminary). Completion 2027.
• Odom Living — 1–4 bedroom residences within the same ODOM complex, connected to the tower by a sky bridge. Architect — Kite Studio Architecture (Singapore). Completion 2027.
• Bakong Village — a borey (community) of villas and shophouses in Siem Reap, near Angkor. The first catalogue property outside Phnom Penh. Village A and B are complete. Important: for a foreigner this is leasehold, not direct strata ownership.

Factory Phnom Penh became the clearest proof

Urban Loft was a relatively small early project handed over in 2019, combining a contemporary condominium with a reinterpretation of the shophouse. Urban Village Phase 1 increased the scale to more than 800 homes.

The more important decision was made beside the housing. The former industrial complex was retained and converted into Factory Phnom Penh, a cluster of offices, coworking, workshops, cafés, sports and events. Residents received a real surrounding place rather than a lifestyle zone promised for some later phase.

Such an environment requires constant programming. It remains alive only when tenants, events and reasons to return continue to exist. ULS should therefore be judged not merely by the visual success of adaptive reuse, but by whether Factory remains active years later.

In Siem Reap, the model became lower and quieter

Rose Apple Square combines residences, offices, coworking and coliving in a low-rise mixed-use property. Bakong Village returned to the traditional shophouse and a landscaped neighbourhood; its first phase was handed over in 2021.

These projects show the company changing form without abandoning the idea of mixed everyday life. The Phnom Penh cluster depends on density and creative business, while the Siem Reap work uses a smaller scale and closer connection to the local community.

ODOM must carry the culture into a high-rise

ODOM on Norodom Boulevard includes a 45-storey office tower, a 22-storey residential building and a five-level commercial podium. Kite Studio Architecture introduced “sky villages”, a bridge between the buildings and façades designed for Phnom Penh’s climate.

In April 2026, ULS announced completion of the five-level basement. That is a difficult engineering milestone, but the project remains far from the point at which its social environment can be assessed.

ODOM’s main risk is not only construction. Activity at a smaller place such as Factory can grow organically. In a premium high-rise, it must be supported through complex operations, commercial leasing and careful circulation between different users.

ULS has already demonstrated that it can create projects where the environment does not end at the apartment door. ODOM must show whether the same idea can survive the move into a much larger budget, vertical scale and central-city location.

Sources

Official Urban Living Solutions materials and brochures (the ODOM complex, Bakong Village) · public listings on Cambodian real estate portals · NovAsia partner network data on the ground. Founding year and the list of completed projects — per the developer. Verified: July 2026. Data may be updated.