Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), which is in charge of developing the Yongsan International Business District in Seoul, has moved to select a new designer to carry out development-plan and implementation-plan tasks. As the government and Seoul City continue talks over the scale of dwellings supply, the new firm will take another look at the overall development plan, including land use plans, dwellings, transportation, schools, parks and green spaces. The 51 trillion won Yongsan International Business District project has entered follow-up procedures in preparation for potential plan adjustments.
According to KORAIL on the 23rd, the Yongsan Seoul Core Project Group TF decided to newly select a designer to perform tasks related to the Yongsan International Business District. Until now, Dohwa Engineering has handled related work. The new contractor to be selected next month will review key plans for about one year, targeting the entire Yongsan rail yard site.
KORAIL said that as the implementation plan approval was completed last year, the existing planning phase had wrapped up and a significant portion of the previous task period had progressed, so it is newly selecting a company to take on follow-up work. However, with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul City currently discussing the scale of dwellings supply, and other changes under separate review, it is also understood to be preparing for possible plan adjustments going forward. A KORAIL official said, "There are matters under internal review and consultation with related agencies," adding, "As discussions are ongoing, it is difficult to disclose specific changes."
The Yongsan International Business District is a project to turn about 456,000 square meters of the Yongsan rail yard site in Hangangno 3-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, into a super-high-density mixed-use city combining office, MICE, hotel and residential functions. KORAIL and Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH) are participating as joint implementers. The public sector will first build infrastructure such as roads and parks, after which the private sector will develop individual parcels. The total development scale is estimated at about 51 trillion won. Of this, the urban development project carried out by KORAIL and SH is in the 14 trillion won range.
The project's development plan was first announced in 2007 but was scrapped in 2013 due to the global financial crisis and a downturn in the real estate market. It was restarted after Oh Se-hoon returned as Seoul mayor, and it entered full swing with a groundbreaking ceremony in Nov. last year. Recently, however, talks between the government and Seoul City over the scale of dwellings supply have emerged as a key variable for the project.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) holds that 10,000 dwellings should be supplied in the Yongsan International Business District as part of expanding downtown housing supply. Seoul City, by contrast, believes that reflecting 10,000 units would dilute the project's original purpose as an international business district and inevitably delay the project because infrastructure plans for schools, roads and parks would have to be revisited. Seoul City is said to be negotiating a compromise with MOLIT, viewing around up to 8,000 units as a realistic limit.
SH (Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation), the joint project implementer for the Yongsan International Business District, plans to proceed with follow-up procedures as soon as talks between Seoul City and the government are concluded. An SH official said, "Once consultations on the key issues are wrapped up, we are preparing to apply for approval of changes to the implementation plan as early as next month."
KORAIL, alongside the re-selection of a company related to the development plan, is also pushing to select a project management (PM) firm. The PM will take charge of integrated management of the project schedule, expense and risks, and support consultations and coordination among related bodies such as KORAIL, SH and Seoul City. It will also perform functions to manage the entire process of infrastructure development and private-sector development going forward.