The Seoul city government has begun viewing of a draft for the readjustment of the district unit plan for the Gayang and Deungchon housing site development districts. Attention is focused on whether the city will 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 city government on the 23rd sent an official letter requesting cooperation in promoting the public notice of viewing and the residents' briefing session for the draft readjustment of the district unit plan within the Gayang and Deungchon housing site development districts to apartment management office heads and others. The viewing period runs from the 26th to Apr. 9, and the residents' briefing session will be held on the 31st at Gangseo University. A district unit plan is a kind of urban blueprint that determines how to develop the area.
Gayang housing site (977,265 square meters) and Deungchon housing site (762,759 square meters) were created along the Han River in the 1990s. About 29,000 households are concentrated in the two districts combined, with Subway Line No. 9 running between them. In the Gayang-dong area, large apartment complexes from Complex 2 to Complex 9 have been built, of which Complexes 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9-1 are rental apartments. Nearby are the development of the Gayang-dong CJ factory site and the Magok district.
The key point to watch is whether floor area ratio relief and upzoning will be linked to the special act on aging planned cities. This district is a housing site of more than 1 million square meters that has been more than 20 years since the housing site development project, qualifying it as an aging planned city subject to the special act. If the special act is applied, it would open the way to secure a maximum floor area ratio of 400% to 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 a floor area ratio hovering around 200%.
However, a high public contribution rate is also a key factor, commensurate with the generous floor area ratio incentives. This is because a certain portion of the increased floor area ratio must be offered as contributed acceptance in the form of public rental housing or infrastructure. Under the special act, if the floor area ratio is 250%, a 30% public contribution rate applies, and if it is 300%, a 60% rate applies. If an apartment complex with a floor area ratio of 194%, similar to the Gayang and Deungchon districts, proceeds with a reconstruction project to a maximum of 450%, the share to be provided as land for public contribution amounts to 30.4% of the increase in floor area ratio.
On the 5th, Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the Seoul city government said through "Southwest megaproject 2.0" that the city would expedite procedures related to the Gayang and Deungchon housing site development districts to speed up reconstruction. The city and the Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH) plan, after this confirmation, to proceed with reconstruction projects by complex as early as 2027 and supply up to 30,000 dwellings for rent and sale, including public rental dwellings, in the Gayang and Deungchon districts. Currently, the number of SH Corporation public rental dwellings in the Gayang and Deungchon districts is about 6,400.
A redevelopment industry official said, "Gayang and Deungchon have a high ratio of small unit sizes, so many complexes have relatively small per-household land equity," and added, "How much of the increased floor area ratio can be secured as general sale supply will be the key that determines the size of the additional contributions and the speed of the project."
A Seoul city government official said, "There is nothing fixed yet, as exact floor area ratios are decided in individual redevelopment plans, and the draft continues to change as it goes through public viewing, interdepartmental consultations, and the committee."