On 25th in the afternoon, at the entrance of "Brain Industrial Complex 2-ro," which leads into the Brain City industrial-use site in Doil-dong, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, final road construction was in full swing. An asphalt finisher, equipment that uniformly lays asphalt concrete (ascon), and rollers that compact ascon went back and forth on the road, tamping down the asphalt.
Brain City industrial complex is divided into phase two, which will include multifamily housing, a university, and research facilities, and phase one, the industrial-use site where corporations will move in. The eight-lane Baekhyeon-daero marks the boundary between the phase one and phase two sites. Taking this road connects to the Pyeongtaek Integrated Logistics Complex and the Pyeongtaek-Jecheon Expressway. Brain Industrial Complex 2-ro is a road that links the apartment "Pyeongtaek Brain City & Nature Miraedo," which Jungheung Construction plans to build, with zones 2 to 5 of the industrial-use site.
Brain City is a large housing district to be developed with a high-tech industrial complex, a university focused on research and development, residential and commercial facilities, and medical facilities such as Ajou University Pyeongtaek Hospital on a site of about 4.82 million square meters (about 1.45 million pyeong) across Doil-dong and Jang-an-dong in Pyeongtaek. From the Anseong junction (JC), where the Gyeongbu Expressway and the Pyeongtaek-Jecheon Expressway meet, exiting to the Songtan interchange (IC) gets you there in under 10 minutes.
The plan is to develop it as the largest industrial complex not only in Pyeongtaek but in all of Gyeonggi Province. Phase one is being constructed directly by Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation, and phase two will be implemented by Brain City PFV, a special purpose company (SPC) jointly funded by Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation (32% equity) and Jungheung Construction (68%).
Unlike the roadway where ascon compaction work was underway, the pedestrian path had already been finished with red asphalt. Following the walkway led to a building being developed as Industrial-Use Site 8-ro, part of the phase one project area. At the building entrance, the newly assigned road name address "Brain Industrial Complex 4-ro 45" stood out, and about 15 to 16 construction workers were working on finishes. An official met on-site said, "The building is scheduled to be completed next month."
The owner of this building is Top Material, a secondary battery materials corporation headquartered in Icheon, Gyeonggi. The company is setting up a production line targeting lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material production, and plans to open a "Mother Line," a small-scale mass-production verification line capable of producing 3,000 tons (t) per year, here. Top Material is among the first corporations to move into Brain City.
Across Baekhyeon-daero in the phase two project area was the field office of Jungheung Construction, which is in charge of construction and implementation. Inside the makeshift building made of container boxes, more than 20 staffers were working on computers. A Jungheung Construction official met there said, "By the end of this year, we plan to first build apartments and research facilities centered on the university site within the phase two project area, and then proceed with partial completion by building the industrial complexes that other corporations can use from next year onward."
In Brain City, most of the infrastructure such as roads and water and sewage was already in place. However, for electricity, Korea Electric Power Corporation was building two substations, one each in the phase one and phase two industrial complexes, and power will be supplied starting in March next year.
Nearly half of the tenant corporations have moved in. According to Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation, the occupancy rate of the industrial complex is 43%. Along with Top Material, KGA also plans to set up a base in the industrial complex. KGA is a corporation that produces frame-integrated batteries (FIB, Frame Integrated Lithium Ion Battery) to extend the operating time of secondary battery electrode process equipment and humanoids (human-shaped robots). It was listed on the KOSDAQ market on Jun. 17. Using its Brain City plant here as a base, KGA plans to develop next-generation products such as sodium battery equipment and push for business expansion.
Although some secondary battery corporations have decided to move into the industrial complex, some sites still lack owners, so Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation is focusing on marketing the complex's lots. To that end, it designated Saenal, which specializes in industrial complex sales brokerage, as the official sales firm to promote Brain City industrial complex's competitiveness.
Park Gwan-il, head of the sales compensation division at Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation headquarters in Doil-dong that day, said, "Not only secondary battery corporations but also semiconductor-related corporations such as Samsung Electronics subcontractors are very interested in the industrial complex," adding, "However, as the semiconductor market has recently been weak, there are often cases of moving in being delayed or canceled." Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation aims to accept all tenant corporations by the first half of next year, when all infrastructure in the phase one industrial complex is in place.
Kim Gyeong-i, executive director overseeing the sales business division at Saenal, said, "Because it is close to the Samsung Electronics Godeok campus and, unlike other industrial complexes, has a fully built living environment including medical and residential facilities, it is more competitive than other complexes."