Donga Apartment in Jamwon-dong, Seocho District (Jamwon Donga), is accelerating its remodeling. By midmonth, it will share the environmental impact assessment results with co-op members and is in the final stage of architectural review. Hyundai Engineering & Construction plans to apply its high-end brand "THE H" to this project, making it the first remodeled apartment in Gangnam to use the brand, and turning it into a large complex with more than 1,000 households after remodeling. As Samsung C&T decided 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. It also held a resident briefing session on the 31st. After making the draft environmental impact assessment available for public inspection through the 15th, it plans to wrap up the architectural review. A Seocho District official said, "The Seoul city architectural review is in its final stage. Once the review ends, the co-op will obtain resident consent, apply to the district for remodeling approval, and then proceed to relocation and demolition."
Completed in 2002, the apartment at 15, Sinbanporo 33-gil, Seocho District (Jamwon-dong 157), consists of eight buildings with up to 20 stories and 991 households. It is currently pushing a vertical and horizontal extension to six basement levels and 25 aboveground floors, for 1,073 households. Administratively it is in Jamwon-dong, but its living sphere is closer to Banpo-dong. Across the four-lane road is 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 co-op establishment was approved in 2021, and in the same year Hyundai Engineering & Construction won the construction rights. In 2022, it passed Seocho District's safety diagnosis.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction will apply its high-end brand "THE H" to a remodeling complex for the first time. In collaboration with global architecture corporations SMDP, it has proposed the complex name "THE H LE HEAVEN." It also plans to build a central indoor swimming pool, a golf practice range, and more.
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 is not directly connected to the units, causing inconvenience because residents must come up to the first floor and then use an elevator to go up to their units. Converting a non-connected underground parking lot to one that connects directly to units during remodeling 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 such methods. For this reason, Hyundai Engineering & Construction has yet to decide whether to pursue direct parking-to-unit connections. Regarding this, the remodeling co-op said, "As the project entity, we plan to remodel with a design that connects the underground parking lot to the units."
Ko Jun-seok, a professor at Yonsei University's Sangnam Institute of Management, said, "It is inconvenient that the underground parking lot is not directly connected to the units, and how to design it for a direct connection is the biggest task of the remodeling," adding, "Another factor that will determine the residential environment of the complex is whether it can build community facilities on a similar level to nearby Maple Xi and Banpo Xi."
Park Hap-su, an adjunct professor at Konkuk University's Graduate School of Real Estate, said, "Residents can easily enjoy shopping infrastructure such as the Kim's Club Gangnam branch and NewCore Outlet Gangnam branch, and the transportation conditions, including Banpo Station and the Express Bus Terminal, are good, giving the complex a locational advantage," adding, "However, having to cross a main road to attend nearby Wonchon Elementary School is a drawback."
Meanwhile, the remodeling industry expects Jamwon Donga to form a competitive structure with Banpo Prugio, which Samsung C&T has decided to remodel nearby. That is because the No. 1 and No. 2 builders by construction capability evaluation ranking are pushing remodeling projects with their pride on the line.
Samsung C&T was selected on the 31st as the preferred negotiation partner for the Banpo Prugio remodeling project. Located in the area of 10 Banpo-dong, Seocho District, Samsung C&T proposed its "Next Remodeling" method for the complex in Aug. last year, and it is increasingly likely to become the first site where the method is applied. Because Next Remodeling does not involve risky work types such as frame demolition, extension, or underground excavation, it can shorten the period for safety reviews, deliberations, and other approvals. Samsung C&T said it can finish construction within two years. Banpo Prugio is about 1.6 kilometers in a straight line from Jamwon Donga.