It has been confirmed that the Seoul metropolitan government finalized a readjustment plan for the district unit plan of the Gayang and Deungchon housing site development districts. The city is expected to push this district as the first redevelopment project under the special act on aging planned cities.
According to the redevelopment industry on the 25th, the Seoul metropolitan government on the 23rd sent an official letter requesting cooperation in publicizing the notice of inspection and resident briefing session for the readjustment (draft) of the district unit plan for the Gayang and Deungchon housing site development districts to apartment management office heads within the districts. A district unit plan is a kind of urban blueprint that determines how to develop the area. The fact that Seoul approved this and is issuing a notice of inspection means the city has prepared its final plan for the Gayang and Deungchon area regarding floor area ratio, building-to-land ratio, building height, and the ratio of public contributions (contributed acceptance).
Gayang housing site (977,265㎡) and Deungchon housing site (762,759㎡) were created along the Han River in the 1990s. The two districts combined have about 29,000 households concentrated there, and Subway Line 9 passes between them. In the Gayang-dong area, there are large apartment complexes from Complex 2 to Complex 9, among which Complexes 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9-1 are rental apartments. Nearby are the Gayang-dong CJ factory site development and the Magok district.
What warrants attention is whether floor area ratio relief and an upzoning to quasi-residential will be linked to the special act on aging planned cities. This district is a housing site of over 1 million square meters that has passed more than 20 years since site development, qualifying it as an aging planned city subject to the special act. If this readjustment plan is finalized, it would open the way to secure a maximum floor area ratio of 400–500% by upzoning to quasi-residential areas centered on station-area complexes. Currently, the Gayang and Deungchon districts are Class 3 general residential areas, with the floor area ratio hovering around 200%.
However, the high ratio of public contributions is also key, just like the generous floor area ratio incentives. This is because a certain portion of the increased floor area ratio must be provided as public rental dwellings or infrastructure through contributed acceptance. Under the special act, if the floor area ratio is 250%, a 30% public contribution ratio must be applied, and if it is 300%, 60% must be applied. If an apartment complex with a floor area ratio of 194%, similar to the Gayang and Deungchon districts, proceeds with a reconstruction project up to a maximum of 450%, the ratio that must be contributed as land for public purposes amounts to 30.4% of the increase in floor area ratio.
On the 5th, Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, said through "Southwest zone grand remodeling 2.0" that procedures related to the Gayang and Deungchon housing site development districts would be expedited to accelerate reconstruction. The city and Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH) plan, after this finalization, to proceed with reconstruction projects by complex as early as 2027 and supply up to 30,000 households for rent and sale, including public rental dwellings, in the Gayang and Deungchon districts. Currently, the number of Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation public rental dwellings in the Gayang and Deungchon districts is about 6,400 households. Under the plan, rental apartments will also be able to be rebuilt into supertall apartments of more than 50 stories along the Han River.
A redevelopment industry official said, "Gayang and Deungchon have a high ratio of small-unit floor plans, so there are many complexes where the land equity per household is relatively small," and added, "How much of the increased floor area ratio can be secured as general presale volume will be the key that determines the scale of contributions and the project's pace."