Donga Apartment in Jamwon-dong, Seocho District (Jamwon Donga) is accelerating its remodeling. The cooperative is sharing the results of the environmental impact assessment with members by mid-month and is in the final stage of the architectural review. This apartment will be the first in Gangnam to be remodeled by Hyundai Engineering & Construction applying its high-end brand THE H, and it is set to become a large complex with more than 1,000 households after remodeling. With Samsung C&T deciding to remodel nearby Banpo Prugio, competition among major builders seeking to win remodeling projects in the Gangnam area is expected to intensify.
According to the maintenance industry on the 3rd, Seocho District has begun the Seoul city public inspection for the environmental impact assessment of the Jamwon Donga Apartment remodeling project. In addition, on the 31st, it held a briefing session for residents related to this. After publicly inspecting the draft environmental impact assessment through the 15th, it plans to complete the architectural review. A Seocho District official said, "The Seoul city architectural review is in its final stage. When the review is finished, after obtaining resident consent, the cooperative will apply to the district for a remodeling permit, followed by relocation and demolition."
Completed in 2002, the apartment at 15, Sinbanporo 33-gil, Seocho District (Jamwon-dong 157) is a complex of up to 20 stories, eight buildings, and 991 households. It is currently pushing a remodeling with vertical and horizontal extensions to six basement levels and 25 above-ground stories for 1,073 households. Administratively it is in Jamwon-dong, but its living sphere is closer to Banpo-dong. Across the four-lane road sits Banpo Xi, and across Sinbanporo 33-gil are Maple Xi and HAUTERRE Banpo, recently built by POSCO E&C. Three entrances of Banpo Station on Seoul Subway Line 7 connect directly to the complex. The cooperative won establishment approval in 2021, and in the same year Hyundai Engineering & Construction secured the construction rights. It subsequently passed Seocho District's safety inspection in 2022.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction will, for the first time in a remodeling complex, apply its high-end brand THE H. In collaboration with global architecture corporations SMDP, it has proposed the complex name "THE H LE HEAVEN." It also plans to build a sky community, a sky garden, a central indoor swimming pool, and a golf practice range.
The core of the Jamwon Donga remodeling is expected to be improvements to the underground parking lot. Although there is an underground parking lot now, it does not connect directly to the units, forcing residents to come up to the first floor and then take an elevator up to their homes. Remodeling an underground parking lot that is not connected to the units so it connects directly to them is known to be a high-difficulty construction method. In the industry, Ssangyong E&C and POSCO E&C are builders that have succeeded with this method. For this reason, Hyundai Engineering & Construction has not yet decided whether to pursue direct connections between the underground parking lot and the units.
Koh Joon-seok, a professor at Yonsei University Sangnam Institute of Management, said, "There is an inconvenience in that the underground parking lot does not connect directly to the units, and how it is designed to connect directly is the biggest task of the remodeling," adding, "Also, whether it can create a community on par with large complexes such as nearby Maple Xi and Banpo Xi will be a factor that determines the complex's residential environment."
Park Hap-su, an adjunct professor at Konkuk University Graduate School of Real Estate, said, "Residents can easily enjoy shopping infrastructure such as Kims Club Gangnam and Newcore Outlet Gangnam, and transportation conditions like Banpo Station and the Express Bus Terminal are good, giving the complex a locational advantage," adding, "However, having to cross a major road to attend nearby Wonchon Elementary School is a drawback."
Meanwhile, the remodeling industry expects Jamwon Donga to form a competitive landscape with Banpo Prugio, which nearby Samsung C&T has decided to remodel. That is because the No. 1 and No. 2 builders in construction capability rankings are pushing their remodeling projects with pride on the line.
Samsung C&T was selected on the 31st as the preferred negotiation partner for the remodeling project of Banpo Prugio. For the complex located around lot No. 10 in Banpo-dong, Seocho District, Samsung C&T proposed its "Next Remodeling" method in Aug. last year, and the site is increasingly likely to become the first application. Because Next Remodeling does not include risky work types such as frame demolition, extensions, or underground excavation, it can shorten permitting periods such as safety reviews and deliberations. Samsung C&T said it can complete construction within two years. Banpo Prugio is about 1.6 kilometers in a straight line from Jamwon Donga.