Kim Han-mo, chair of HM Group, has been tapped as the new head of the Korea Developer Association.
According to the real estate development industry on the 27th, the Korea Developer Association plans to put Kim Han-mo, chair of HM Group, on the board agenda on the 28th as the sole candidate for the seventh chair. Kim is set to be recommended as association head at the general meeting on the 25th of next month. Kim's term is three years.
As Kim takes the helm of an association that had been led by so-called "first-generation developers," including Chair Jeong Chun-bo, Chair Moon Ju-hyun, and Chair Kim Seung-bae, it signals the advent of the "second-generation developer" era.
The Korea Developer Association is a statutory body under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, founded in 2005 to strengthen the soundness and transparency of real estate development projects.
HM Group started in 2012 with the sales agency "Frontier Maru" as its origin. Since entering development projects in 2015, it has expanded affiliates into various fields, including asset management, culture, exhibitions, and lighting, growing into a comprehensive developer group.
In 2019, it acquired Kansas Asset Management, with about 5.2 trillion won in assets under management.
As of the end of 2024, HM Group's total asset aggregates reach 2.117 trillion won. It is currently carrying out the "Sinbunpyeong The Way City" (3,949 households) development in Cheongju. It is also pushing major projects such as the development of the parking lot site of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul.
HM Group is pursuing two large-scale development projects in the United States with Kushner Companies. In December last year, through its subsidiary Kansas Asset Management, it joined the development of the supertall mixed-use project "One Journal Square" in Jersey City, New Jersey. In January this year, it acquired the luxury mixed-use complex "The Hamilton" in Miami's Edgewater area. The acquisition price was $190 million (about 300 billion won), and it participated in the common equity investment with Kushner Companies.
In November last year, Kim served as Director General of the association's "20th anniversary project team" and led the effort to change the association's name to Korea Developer Association (Korea Developer Association).