An old villa cluster near Hyochang Park Station in Yongsan District, Seoul, will be developed into an apartment complex with 2,400 households. It completed the designation process for the main district a little over four years after being selected in 2022 as a candidate site for an urban public housing complex project. Because it is a prime location close to Yongsan Station and the Yongsan International Business District, major builders are said to be interested in taking part in construction.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) on the 21st, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) the previous day designated and announced 60,682.6 square meters around 1-126 Yongmun-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul, as the "Seoul Hyochang Park Station area urban public housing complex district."
The urban complex project is a public development initiative for station areas, quasi-industrial zones, and old low-rise residential areas where private redevelopment is difficult. Public institutions such as LH serve as project implementers and apply incentives such as relaxed floor area ratios to accelerate the supply of dwellings. For district designation, consent is required from at least two-thirds of owners of land and other property and from owners representing at least one-half of the land area.
The project site is a station area around Hyochang Park Station, served by Seoul Subway Line 6 and the Gyeongui-Jungang Line. Yongsan Station and the Yongsan International Business District are also nearby. It is a low-rise residential area dense with aging villas; a redevelopment promotion committee was formed in 2007, but the maintenance zone designation was lifted. A long-term jeonse dwellings project by the Seoul city government was later pursued but fell through.
The area was selected as a candidate site for the urban complex project in early 2022 and designated as a planned district in April last year. Owners of land and other property secured the consent rate required for main district designation in March.
LH is pushing a plan to build an apartment complex with 2,384 households by applying a 499% floor area ratio. However, the floor area ratio and the number of households supplied may change during Seoul City's approval process for the complex project plan.
An LH official said, "With the district designation completed, we plan to draw up a complex project plan and obtain approval from the Seoul city government," adding, "We will carry out subsequent procedures such as project planning and compensation without a hitch."
In the maintenance industry, there is an assessment that the Hyochang Park Station district has strong business potential because it is close to Yongsan's core development areas and is a large complex with more than 2,000 households. A maintenance industry official said, "Transportation is convenient and access to the Yongsan International Business District is good, so the effect on supplying dwellings in the urban core is expected to be significant."
Sim Hyeong-seok, senior member at law firm Joyul, said, "Although it is a public development project, the fact that a large new complex will rise in a prime Yongsan location gives it scarcity value," adding, "It will also affect improvements to the surrounding residential environment."
In the construction industry, there is talk that Samsung C&T and DL E&C are reviewing whether to participate in construction. An official at a construction company said, "Both the location and the scale of the project are conditions that would interest major builders," adding, "If the project plan and bidding conditions are fleshed out, competition for orders is likely to heat up in earnest."