Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) on the 15th signed land sale contracts with Korean Air, SK Innovation, SK hynix, and DN Solutions for about 130,000㎡, worth 410 billion won.
The deal marks the first direct corporate investment in the third new towns and is equivalent to about 35% of the industrial land (380,000㎡) in the urban high-tech industrial complex within the Bucheon Daejang new town. The corporations plan to invest about 2.6 trillion won, including land acquisition costs, by 2030 to build research clusters and more.
With this contract confirming the investments by the corporations eligible to move in, Bucheon Daejang new town has taken shape as a job-linked, self-sufficient city with advanced industry jobs secured.
Korean Air plans to build unmanned aircraft-related research facilities and a flight training center on a 72,000㎡ site within the Bucheon Daejang urban high-tech industrial complex, with total investment reaching 1.2 trillion won.
SK hynix and SK Innovation will each establish research and development (R&D) centers of 19,000㎡ and 26,000㎡, respectively. The project cost is about 1.2 trillion won, and once completed, more than 1,000 resident staff will work at the facilities.
DN Solutions, Korea's No. 1 machine tool and automation solutions manufacturer, will push to establish research labs in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation with an investment of about 240 billion won.
LH, the project implementer, and the Bucheon Urban Corporation signed sale contracts allowing use of the land before the balance payment so the corporations can break ground early. Accordingly, the corporations are expected to begin construction as early as 2027 and to fully commence operations in 2030 upon completion.
Park Dong-seon, head of LH's National Land and City Division, said, "Bucheon Daejang new town is taking on the profile of a complete city that combines transportation, self-sufficiency, and residential functions, with major corporate investment confirmed and the Daejang–Hongdae Line also starting construction," and added, "We will accelerate the project so the third new towns, including Bucheon Daejang, can be built on time as high-quality, self-sufficient cities that can practically substitute for housing demand in central Seoul."