On Apr. 30 in the afternoon, on the fifth floor of Eskiss Gasan in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon District, Seoul. After removing shoes, the interior of the unit measured about 7 pyeong, a studio layout with a bed, storage, and a kitchenette lined along the wall. It was a space converted from a hotel room that once hosted tourists, with the carpet removed and new kitchen plumbing and individual billing systems installed to add residential functions. It is a nonresidential remodeling case that turned a vacant hotel into youth dwellings.
This building is youth acquisition-and-lease dwellings created by remodeling Hotel Haedamchae Gasan, completed in 2017. Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) spent about 35 billion won to acquire and remodel it. A total of 181 units were supplied, and the remodeling period was about 11 months. The site was opened to the press by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH to explain the nonresidential remodeling project, proceeding by gathering in the first-floor lobby and then touring the rooftop, community spaces, basement lecture hall, and an actual occupied unit in order.
The project is structured with LH and a private operating entity splitting roles. LH acquires the building and supplies it as lease dwellings, while actual operations and program planning are handled by the social enterprise Nanum Housing. Founded in 2010 as a social enterprise focused on housing improvement, Nanum Housing has carried out youth housing and community operations projects. Lee Hae-seong, head of Nanum Housing, oversaw spatial composition and community program design for this project.
Lee Won-sik, team leader of acquisition supply in the Special Measures Task Force for Housing Supply at LH, who led the on-site briefing, said, "Because this building used to be a hotel, it has three elevators installed, which is a trace of the original structure," and noted, "Gasan Digital Complex is an industrial complex where about 140,000 people work, more than half of them youth in their 20s and 30s, and about 10,000 corporations in IT, gaming, design, and medical fields are clustered here, making it a high-demand area for youth."
From the rooftop on the 20th floor, the Gasan Digital Complex area spread out in a single view. It was being used as a community space where residents hold barbecues and gatherings. Traces remained of the rooftop structure from the hotel days.
The building's interior differed from typical lease dwellings. The second floor had a coworking space and study rooms, and there was also a library space operated with books donated by residents. In the first basement, a lecture hall, meeting rooms, and a studio capable of video recording had been set up. Lee said, "Residents mainly use it as a workspace in the evenings or on weekends, and community gatherings also take place here," adding, "We reconfigured the existing layout, turning former hotel office areas into shared spaces and former restaurant areas into residential facilities."
The core concept here is the "combination of housing and education." Lee said, "Analyzing youth data showed housing and education costs were the largest shares," and explained, "We designed it by combining artificial intelligence (AI) education with job search and startup support." In practice, education programs involving KBS Business Video Institute are being run in the basement studio, and to date the program has produced its seventh cohort with more than 350 trainees.
Residents said their housing costs dropped significantly. One resident said, "With a deposit in the 7 million to 9 million won range, monthly rent is around 250,000 won, and management fees come to about 80,000 won," adding, "It's clearly less burdensome than nearby market rates." Another resident said, "Mine is in the 270,000 to 290,000 won range; in a previous studio, electricity and heating costs were heavy, but here living expenses have decreased."
The move-in process is the same as for general public lease dwellings, targeting youth without homes who meet income and asset criteria. Some units are selected through a special supply track that evaluates capabilities in digital and AI fields, and applicants submit relevant portfolios and experience for review. After moving in, age criteria do not apply. If the initial move-in standard of age 39 or younger is met, contracts can be renewed up to four times, for a maximum stay of up to 10 years, as long as the no-home requirement and income and asset criteria are maintained.
Under these conditions, about 3,000 people applied in the initial recruitment, reflecting strong demand. According to LH, competition for Seoul youth acquisition-and-lease dwellings reaches as high as 100-to-1 depending on the area.
There are limits, however. Residents cited the difficulty of individual temperature control due to the central heating and cooling system, and inconvenience using taxis because of heavy traffic in front of the building. Constraints also stem from the remodeling structure itself. Lee said, "Hotels originally have no kitchens, so plumbing work was the biggest task, and reinforcing floor impact sound insulation, thermal insulation, and building individual metering systems were major jobs," adding, "The remodeling expense is about 2 million won per pyeong." Because the existing structure is retained, design freedom is limited and the difficulty of construction varies by building.
The government and LH plan to again expand such nonresidential remodeling projects. Kim Do-gon, head of the housing welfare support division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "If we convert lodging facilities with increased vacancies due to COVID-19 into housing, we can address hotel business difficulties and dwellings supply at the same time," and explained, "We are pushing this again as a fast and efficient supply method." He added, "Whereas the past focused on a contract-based model, this time we plan to accelerate supply by also having LH directly acquire and remodel."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport resumed the project by issuing a new acquisition notice early this month for about 2,000 units. The project method is also changing. Kim Ji-man, a manager in charge of LH's acquisition lease business, said, "We plan to combine LH directly acquiring and remodeling with a method where the private sector remodels and then sells," and explained, "We expanded eligible participants to private operators and included buildings completed within 30 years."