This article was posted on the MoneyMove site of ChosunBiz on June 10, 2025, at 4:42 p.m.
The UNESCO Korea Committee's comprehensive training facility in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province has come up for sale. It has been approximately 48 years since it opened in 1977 as part of the UNESCO Korea Committee. The UNESCO Peace Center is a training facility for nurturing young leaders and promoting international exchanges.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 10th, the Korea Committee selected Samil as the advisory firm for the sale of the UNESCO Peace Center, a comprehensive training facility. The sellers are conducting preliminary marketing to potential buyers. They plan to receive letters of intent (LOI) by the 25th of next month and select the final buyer within July.
The sale includes land with a total area of 67,483 square meters located in Maegok-ri, Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province, and the UNESCO Peace Center building. All facilities, including accommodation for teachers and students for youth training, classrooms, sports facilities, a cafeteria, an outdoor campsite, and walking paths, will be sold together. However, the English Village, a building with a total area of 1,488 square meters located within the Peace Center, will be sold separately by the owner, Icheon City.
The UNESCO Peace Center is a symbolic place that has conducted youth activities both domestically and internationally for decades, including international youth camps, youth leadership training, and overseas volunteer activities. It was established at the request of the UNESCO General Conference, which recommended that member countries expand facilities and buildings necessary for youth activities. Foreign youths from 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan, who came to participate in youth camping volunteer activities, joined students from 50 universities in Korea to participate in the construction.
Industry insiders expect that strategic investors (SI) who need large-scale training facilities or developers seeking capital gains through land development will participate in the bidding. However, with the simultaneous sale of the Kobaco Training Center by the Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation and the Ansung Training Center by Woori Financial, there are concerns about corporate participation in the acquisition.
A commercial real estate industry official noted, "The area around the Peace Center is densely populated with logistics centers, making it convenient for transportation due to its proximity to Seoul and the metropolitan area," and explained, "It is a place where real estate developers have demand because the logistics center can be built through a change of use to aim for capital gains."
Recently, the logistics center of ESR Kendall Square REIT, located near the Peace Center, has been sold to Pacific Asset Management and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), and the Singapore real estate investment firm Real Vantage has also acquired a logistics center in Icheon.