The member contributions for Eunma Apartments in Daechi-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul—considered a prime Gangnam reconstruction—have jumped sharply in eight months. Even when receiving a new apartment of the same size, the additional charge has risen by nearly 200 million won, and if applying for a 143-square-meter penthouse, the estimated contribution has surged to nearly 3 billion won.
According to the maintenance industry on the 21st, the reconstruction association for Eunma Apartments recalculated and posted the estimated member contributions ahead of applying for approval of the project implementation plan. Contributions are the expense that members must additionally bear in the process of demolishing existing apartments and building new ones. They are first calculated at the association establishment stage, then recalculated after district office review before the general meeting for the project implementation plan approval. The final amount is set at the management disposition plan stage.
Under the latest notice, a member holding an exclusive 76 square meters must pay an additional 420 million won to be allocated the same size after reconstruction. That is 190 million won more than the estimated 230 million won in September last year. If an 84-square-meter owner is allocated the same size, the contribution increased from 180 million won to 320 million won over the same period, up 140 million won. Eunma Apartments consists of 28 buildings with 4,424 households and currently has two types: exclusive 76 square meters and 84 square meters.
The burden grows if moving up to a larger size. A 76-square-meter member must pay an estimated 1.54 billion won to be allocated 109 square meters after reconstruction. If an 84-square-meter owner applies for a 143-square-meter penthouse, the amount to be borne is 6.44 billion won. That is up 2.99 billion won from the estimated 3.45 billion won in September last year. The 286-square-meter exclusive size was excluded from this contribution calculation.
Compared with the amounts calculated in 2023 when association establishment was being pursued, the increase is even larger. The estimated contribution for a 76-square-meter owner to move to 109 square meters was 780 million won as of February 2023, but this time it is 1.54 billion won, about double. Moving from 84 square meters to 109 square meters also rose from 480 million won to 1.2 billion won, up 2.5 times.
Eunma Apartments has a relatively high existing floor area ratio of 204%. Because of that, there is not much inventory to convert to general sales after reconstruction, making it a site with a heavy member contribution burden. Although business viability improved somewhat as the number of supply units increased by 655 with the application of the "station area floor area ratio special case" in Feb., the faster rise in construction costs appears to have increased the burden on members instead.
An official of the Eunma Apartments reconstruction association said, "During the review of the estimated contributions, the construction cost per 3.3 square meters (one pyeong) was adjusted upward from 9 million won to 9.3 million won," and added, "Reflecting the expansion of community facilities suitable for a high-end complex and the increase in parking spaces per household, the total floor area grew by about 50,000 pyeong, which was also reflected in the contributions." Considering that the expected construction cost at the initial reconstruction planning stage was 7 million won per pyeong, construction costs have risen 32.9% in three years.
The problem is that the upward trend in construction costs is likely to continue for the time being. As raw material prices and labor costs keep rising, construction costs for maintenance projects are increasing every year. The average construction cost per 3.3 square meters for maintenance projects rose from 4.8 million won in 2021, to 5.18 million won in 2022, 6.06 million won in 2023, 7.7 million won in 2024, and 8.08 million won in 2025. In key Seoul maintenance project areas, not a few have already surpassed 10 million won per 3.3 square meters. Apgujeong District 4 in Gangnam District is at 12.5 million won, and Seongsu District 1 is at 11.32 million won.
An industry official said, "Even if general pre-sale prices are set high, the faster pace of construction cost increases means contributions inevitably rise every year," and added, "There is a possibility that more members will choose cash settlement because they cannot afford the reconstruction contributions."