Samsung C&T's absence from the second site briefing for the "Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 Redevelopment" project, where it had previously shown a strong intention to secure orders, has attracted interest from the maintenance industry regarding the reasons for its withdrawal.
According to the maintenance industry on the 21st, there were no signs of employees from the construction division of Samsung C&T at the second redevelopment site briefing held that day at the Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 redevelopment association office, located on the second floor of Woosung B Shopping Center, Olympic-ro 4-gil 40, Songpa-gu, Seoul. GS Engineering and Construction and Jungheung Construction attended the second site briefing.
Earlier, Samsung C&T withdrew from participating in the bidding for the selection of a construction company for the Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 redevelopment on the 4th. The bidding was left unsuccessful as only GS Engineering and Construction, which had been in an underground competition with Samsung C&T, participated.
The maintenance industry evaluated that the absence of Samsung C&T at the second site briefing effectively indicated that it had completely withdrawn from the Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 redevelopment project.
A maintenance industry official noted, "Samsung C&T has been actively engaged in outdoor advertising with the housing brand 'Raemian' around Jamsil Woosung Apartments and has invested considerable effort in preparing proposals from the design stage for redevelopment," but added, "Internally, Samsung C&T seems to have determined that the redevelopment site for Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 is not in an environment for a 'fair (clean) order' and has entirely given up on the project."
He noted, "I have heard that the supervisory district office, Songpa-gu, sent an official letter stating that if there is no self-regulation regarding individual promotions by construction companies for the Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 redevelopment association, it will block the bidding announcement." However, he added that "the association's formal restrictions on the individual promotions of GS Engineering and Construction, which formed a two-way competition with Samsung C&T, played a decisive role in Samsung C&T's withdrawal from the project."
In fact, Samsung C&T sent an official letter to the Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 redevelopment association on Feb. 28, four days before the construction company selection bidding, stating that it would not participate in the bidding.
Samsung C&T explained through an official letter, "We have chosen the Jamsil Woosung Apartment redevelopment project as a strategic business site and have been preparing for participation in the project for a long time," adding, "We have also been reviewing the optimal conditions to present bidding conditions for the selection of the construction contractor by the association."
Samsung C&T continued, "GS Engineering and Construction has not ceased its individual promotions targeting association members, but rather has expanded its reach by even visiting households of members residing in the provinces," and stated, "We judged that a bidding environment conducive to fair competition has not been established, which is why we decided not to participate in this bidding."
The Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 redevelopment project is planned to create an apartment complex of 2,860 units with 4 basement floors and 49 stories above ground over a total area of 120,354 square meters in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. The estimated construction cost is approximately 1.6934 trillion won.