Commercial real estate full-service corporations RSQURE is speeding up hires of key figures in the real estate development industry. Since the start of the year, it has hired Heo Jin-ho, former managing director at Next Properties, and Park Hee-won, former CEO of Shinyoung Asset and Shinyoung Asset Management. Former managing director Heo led the development of Gangnam N Tower and Namsan N Tower, and Shinyoung Asset and Shinyoung Asset Management are affiliates under Shinyoung Group, the largest real estate developer in Korea. RSQURE also brought in veterans from the real estate development and investment industry in 2023 and 2024, including the Government Employees Pension Service and Colliers.
According to the development industry and the financial investment industry on the 28th, RSQURE in January hired Heo Jin-ho, former managing director at Next Properties, as deputy head (executive vice president) of the real estate investment and development unit, and in Apr. hired Park Hee-won, former CEO of Shinyoung Asset and Shinyoung Asset Management, as head (senior executive managing director) of RSQURE's Leasing Management (LM) and acquisition and disposition division.
RSQURE was founded in 2009 under the name Real Estate Direct. In 2012, amid financial difficulties, current CEO Lee Yong-gyun acquired the company, and in 2022 the company name was changed to RSQURE. It is expanding its business beyond traditional real estate brokerage services into data services and spatial interiors, and it also provides services in Vietnam and Singapore.
Deputy head Heo, a graduate of Hanyang University's urban planning department, worked at POSCO E&C, BHP Korea, and CBRE Korea, and while at Next Properties led landmark developments in key areas of Seoul, including Gangnam N Tower and Namsan N Tower. Completed in 2018, Gangnam N Tower is an office building on Teheran-ro in Gangnam District with seven underground floors and 24 above-ground floors and a total floor area of 51,126㎡; it is currently owned by virtual asset exchange Bithumb. Namsan N Tower, located in Jung District's Chungmuro, is an office building with six underground floors and 15 above-ground floors and a total floor area of 20,836㎡; Samyang Foods is using it as its new headquarters.
Former Shinyoung Asset and Shinyoung Asset Management CEO Park Hee-won joined RSQURE in Apr. Park will take the helm of the Leasing Management (LM) field, which handles tasks such as surveying vacant properties, establishing marketing strategies, sourcing tenants, and executing lease contracts. Senior executive managing director Park, a Yonsei University economics graduate, led Shinyoung Asset and Shinyoung Asset Management from 2021 through last year. Park also served as a real estate development advisory expert at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and handled feasibility consulting for National Pension Service investment real estate.
RSQURE previously hired external figures at the executive level in 2023 and 2024. Park Eung-han, former head of the Government Employees Pension Service who joined RSQURE in 2023, served for 12 years from 2011 to 2022 as head of real estate and infrastructure at the Government Employees Pension Service and was its longest-serving investment chief. Park also led the development of Pangyo Alphadom City, a $5 billion mixed-use complex. In 2024, RSQURE also hired Lee Ho-joon, former head of investment advisory at Colliers International, as head of investment advisory (executive vice president).
Based on last year, RSQURE's revenue was 200 billion won, surpassing 200 billion won for the first time since its founding. It was up 5.8% from the previous year's 189 billion won. However, it has yet to turn a profit. It recorded an operating loss of 1.3 billion won last year. Major investors include venture capital firms such as SoftBank Ventures Asia, Union Investment Partners, and STIC Investments.
An industry source said, "I understand RSQURE is making various attempts to overcome the limitations of being a domestic corporation in a sale and advisory market led by foreign players," and added, "Its efforts to broaden the corporation's brand, such as by offering market-friendly data services, are gradually becoming known in the industry." A representative at SBVA, one of the investors, said, "Even amid the real estate market slump after COVID-19, it improved performance in its existing businesses, and since last year, diversified business models such as data intelligence and overseas operations have begun to bear fruit, so we expect growth this year as well."