This article was published on Jan. 9, 2026, at 3:35 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Koramco REITs Management and Trust is seeking to sell the Times Square building in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. After failing to sell it once in the middle of last year, it is putting the property back on the market about half a year later. Koramco REITs Management and Trust plans to begin related procedures starting with the selection of a sales adviser.
According to the investment banking industry on the 9th, Koramco REITs Management and Trust has begun the sale process for the Yeongdeungpo Times Square office buildings. At a board meeting on the 6th it unanimously approved a proposal to start the asset sale process, and it has recently sent requests for proposal (RFPs) to domestic and international real estate consulting firms and accounting firms, sources confirmed.
Yeongdeungpo Times Square is a mixed-use shopping complex established in 2009 by textile firm Kyungbang targeting the southwestern commercial district of Seoul. It consists of Shinsegae department store, a shopping mall, movie theaters, a Marriott hotel and offices. The sale targets are office buildings A and B. The gross floor area is 21,300 square meters for building A and 17,707 square meters for building B, totaling 39,008 square meters (about 11,800 pyeong).
Earlier, Koramco REITs Management and Trust, together with domestic institutional investors, acquired the then-under-development Times Square in 2008, operated it for seven years after completion and sold it to NH-Amundi Asset Management in 2016. It repurchased Times Square in 2019. At the time, it set up the Koramrep No. 51 REIT as the investment vehicle and raised a total of 275 billion won.
Major investors include Korea Securities Finance, Shinhan Investment Corp., DB Financial Investment, Hana Capital, NongHyup Bank and Eugene Investment & Securities. They hold first- and second-class preferred shares. The effective largest shareholder is VI Asset Management. VI Asset Management set up four funds (VI TS private real estate investment trusts) and invested by naming them as trustees. Koramco REITs Management and Trust and Kyungbang, among others, are listed as common stock investors.
Koramco REITs Management and Trust selected NAI Korea, R Square and Cushman & Wakefield Korea as advisers and launched a sale in May last year. However, it failed to attract buyers as office listings in major business districts such as Donuimun D-Tower, City Square and Center Place flooded the market. Since then it extended the REIT's operating period and has been coordinating the timing of a sale.
The reason for putting the property back on the market is that the mortgage loan is due this Oct. and office listings in the nearby Yeouido area have decreased. While the net floor-area ratio of Yeouido business district (YBD) office buildings is around 45%, the Times Square office buildings exceed 70%, which adds to their investment appeal. Major tenants include Hyosung ITX, Shinhan Card and shared office operator FastFive.