In Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, a so-called "combined development" method that bundles apartment and villa complexes that are physically separate into a single redevelopment is gaining traction. The method groups old residential areas with weak business feasibility as individual complexes into a single special maintenance zone and adjusts floor area ratios and development profits. The redevelopment industry is paying close attention as it could become a new model for the first-phase Bundang new town rebuild.
According to the redevelopment industry on the 1st, five complexes in Saetbyeol Village, one of the leading zones for Bundang reconstruction where a district designation has been made, recently submitted an application to designate Hana Asset Trust as the project implementer. Saetbyeol Village began collecting resident consent forms for the designation of the project implementer on the 12th and surpassed the statutory 50% consent rate in five days, with a final consent rate of 77.3%.
A distinctive feature of the Saetbyeol Village rebuild is that it does not target a single apartment complex. The project area includes four apartment complexes—Life Apartments with 796 households, Dongseong Apartments with 582 households, Woobang Apartments with 811 households, and Sambu Apartments with 588 households—separated by Danggol Park in Bundang-dong, as well as Hyundai Villa with 66 households across the street. In total, that comes to 2,843 existing households.
Viewed separately, many assessed that each complex had limited business feasibility. But bundling multiple complexes into one has increased the project scale. If carried out as planned, the Saetbyeol Village area will be transformed into a large complex with up to 49 stories, a floor area ratio of 365%, and about 5,000 households.
Behind the feasibility of this project is the combined development method being pursued by Seongnam City. Combined development is a system that groups physically separate complexes into a single special maintenance zone for redevelopment. The key is that potential developable floor area on each site can be flexibly allocated within the zone. It is a structure that enhances overall business feasibility by adjusting the development capacity of land where the floor area ratio cannot be fully utilized due to regulations or locational conditions with other sites.
Through this, areas dense with row houses and small, aging complexes that had relatively poor development conditions can also participate in large-scale maintenance projects. Advantages cited include improving the efficiency of land use and simultaneously advancing infrastructure upgrades and residential environment improvements.
Although the combined development method was first introduced in 2016, there have not been many actual applications. Requirements were strict, such as the distance between two complexes undertaking joint reconstruction having to be within 500 meters. But this year the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport signaled an intent to ease regulations to revitalize the system, changing the mood. Seongnam City also says it will continue administrative support to make combined development a model case for first-phase new town reconstruction.
Beyond Saetbyeol Village, the number of project sites designated as combined special maintenance zones is growing in Seongnam. Currently, three projects have been finalized and are underway: Zone 23 Siheom Woosung·Hyundai, Zone S6 Jangantown 4 and Zone 6 Mokryeon Village 1, and Zone S3 Mokryeon Village 5. In the second round of special maintenance zones to be announced in the second half, quite a few complexes are also reviewing combined development. Representative examples include Rainbow Village Complex 10 Samsung·Keonyeong Apartments and Zone S8 Geukdong Villa·Daewoo Villa·Dongbu Sun Villa.
A redevelopment industry official said, "For successful combined development, transparency is crucial across the board, including land value assessment and development profit calculations," adding, "Because of the large scale, project periods may lengthen due to the need to coordinate interests between zones, so continuous public oversight and management are necessary."