Owners of major apartment complexes in Gangnam, Seoul, are taking initiatives related to reconstruction. They are creating maintenance plans for reconstruction to receive review from local autonomous districts or the city of Seoul, or gathering consent from owners to establish reconstruction association promotion committees. There are also instances where they operate open chat rooms or publish regular newsletters to disclose information related to reconstruction to many people.
Most of them are professionals in their 30s and 40s, such as lawyers and doctors. Typically, the reconstruction-related work in Gangnam is considered the domain of those who have dedicated themselves to reconstruction work in nearby major apartment complexes. Some view that a kind of cartel has formed due to their long-standing close relationships with maintenance firms, construction companies, and interior design companies composed of architects, appraisers, and legal professionals. The maintenance industry has also noted this as "a challenge from professionals trying to break the cartel."
According to the maintenance industry on the 20th, Kim Seung-han, Chairperson of the reconstruction association promotion committee for the Banpo Mido Apartment located at 60-4 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, is a criminal and real estate attorney at Nikke Law Firm. Born in 1984 and majoring in computer science, he joined the reconstruction promotion preparatory committee in November 2020.
He has worked alongside the promotion preparatory committee on draft maintenance plans and designation of maintenance zones. This apartment was designated as a maintenance zone after a review by the Seoul City Urban Planning Committee in April of last year, and in December of the same year, Attorney Kim was elected as the Chairperson of the association promotion committee. The promotion committee received approval from Seocho-gu last month. They plan to hold the founding general meeting of the association in June and obtain a business implementation permit after selecting a construction company early next year by receiving integrated reviews from the city of Seoul on architecture, traffic, and environmental impact assessments.
Currently, it consists of 8 buildings and 1,260 households, all with a standard area of 84㎡, but there are plans to diversify the sizes to 59–157㎡ through reconstruction, with plans to increase the height to a maximum of 49 floors and accommodate 1,739 households. Chairman Kim stated, "There has been a voice that we need to successfully carry out the reconstruction of the complex, which is why I have come to the forefront."
The area of Sampoong Apartment at 1685 Seocho-dong is also where owners are voluntarily pushing for reconstruction. Built in 1988, the complex consists only of medium to large units ranging from 79 to 165㎡. It is adjacent to Seocho-dong Acro Vista and is also the place where former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon jointly owns a 165㎡ unit with his spouse.
Five owners, including Attorney Kim Dong-seok (20th Judicial Research and Training Institute) and Jeong Hee-chan from the Law Firm Anguk (30th Judicial Research and Training Institute), have formed the 'SOS for Sampoong Apartment Owners in Seocho' to promote the establishment of the association. They have created open chat rooms and a website, sharing draft maintenance plans that include estimated proportional rates and previous asset value estimates during reconstruction. They have also proposed names for the complex after reconstruction like "Seocho Hills" and "Seocho The Hill." Attorney Jeong noted, "Including drafting maintenance plans is part of my work as a lawyer. By working hard to reconstruct my first asset, my house, I believe that others living in the apartment will also benefit, so I am doing my best."
In Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, pediatric specialists have also taken part in promoting reconstruction at Mido Apartment (Hanbo Mido Mansion). Mido Apartment is recognized as a representative reconstruction apartment in Daechi-dong and is also called "Woosunmi" along with Woosung and Seongkyung. It consists of 12 buildings with a total of 2,436 units, built in 1983. They are awaiting reviews for maintenance plans, designation of maintenance zones, and decisions regarding district unit plans from the city of Seoul. Professor Kim Yong-hyuk, a pediatrician at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, and Moon Gil-nam, a former vice president of Shinsegae Engineering & Construction, have formed the 'Daechi Mido Reconstruction Council.' Professor Kim practices in Wonju, Gangwon Province, during weekdays and engages in council activities only on weekends.
The council has invited Koo Dae-hwan, the chairperson who reconstructed the nearby Seocho Rainbow Apartment into Grand Jai, to hold a successful know-how seminar and has been publishing newsletters, among other efforts for establishing the association. Professor Kim remarked, "There are parts I regret about forming the council, but since we have started, I will do my best until we establish the association."
A source in the maintenance industry stated, "In the past, people with a lot of experience in maintenance projects often led reconstruction, and they had a certain degree of collusion with maintenance firms, interior design companies, and construction firms. In this process, inappropriate actions such as the exchange of bribes sometimes occurred, but recently, owners with specialized knowledge and passion have often taken action directly without tolerating such behavior. It is a kind of challenge to break the cartel."