This article was published on July 29, 2025, at 3:33 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Large office transactions are concentrated in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, which belongs to areas other than the traditional urban business districts like CBD (Jongno and Jung-gu), GBD (Gangnam), and YBD (Yeouido). As there is a significant burden on rental costs and economic uncertainty, companies are moving their headquarters to Magok to gather their scattered subsidiaries in areas with relatively lower rental prices, thus creating synergy.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 29th, Daemyung Sonogroup signed a purchase agreement for Building C of the 'Rewest City Tower' with Magok Mais PFV earlier this month. The sale price is about 200 million won per pyeong, totaling 300 billion won.
The Rewest City Tower, located in CP1 zone of Magok District, is a large complex office building consisting of Buildings A to D, with Building C measuring approximately 57,000 square meters (about 17,186 pyeong). Daemyung Sonogroup aims to close the deal within the year.
Daemyung Sonogroup plans to transfer its headquarters to this site in the first half of next year. Major subsidiaries, including T'way Air, which was acquired in June, as well as Sonointernational and Sonosquare, are expected to gather here. Daemyung Sonogroup is currently seeking to sell its headquarters, Sonotower in Munjeong-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, and the Seowon Building in Seocho-dong, which is owned by Daemyung Station (Daemyung I'm Ready), to use the proceeds for the acquisition of the new office building.
All subsidiaries of DL Group (Daelim) are also gathering in Magok. DL E&C will be the first to transfer its headquarters to the Magok District office building 'One Grove' in August, followed by DL Chemical and others. The operations of some facilities at the D Tower in Jongno-gu, Seoul, which had been rented as the previous office, have been concluded since mid-month for restoration work. It was reported that while the lease agreement could have been extended, they opted not to due to expense issues.
E-Land Group is also set to complete the transfer of its subsidiaries' headquarters to the 'Magok Global R&D Center' by September. E-Land Construction, Inople, and Park have already moved in, and E-Land World, responsible for clothing manufacturing, along with Retail and Eats, will follow suit. This will be the first time these subsidiaries gather in one place since the company's inception. The center comprises a building with five underground floors and ten above-ground floors, totaling 250,000 square meters (about 75,000 pyeong).
Industry analysts note that the Magok District is gaining attention for having relatively lower rental burdens compared to the existing three major areas, as well as for having a concentration of advanced infrastructure. According to commercial real estate service company R-square, the rental cost per 3.3 square meters (pyeong) in the other areas, including Magok, was 69,029 won in the first quarter of this year. This is just a little over half the cost of CBD at 112,882 won, GBD at 110,847 won, and YBD at 97,056 won.
Along with this, large office buildings are also being completed, leading to a significant supply of newly built structures. According to commercial real estate service company Genstar Mate, the transaction volume in the other areas exceeded 2 trillion won for the first time in the first quarter of this year. This was supported by the purchase of the office part of One Grove by IGIS Asset Management and the National Pension Service (1.579 trillion won), as well as the purchase of Buildings A and B of Rewest City by KT Investment Management (524.1 billion won). The proportion of the transaction volume from other areas (2.4377 trillion won) out of the total office transaction volume (4.7982 trillion won) surpassed half.
An industry source said, "The rental price for One Grove, where DL Group is relocating its headquarters, is about half that of CBD," adding, "The convenience of access to the airport and the numerous advanced industry R&D centers in the vicinity are advantages that have contributed to its emergence as a new business district."