As Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province asked that public rental housing be reflected in the Cheolsan and Haan reconstruction complexes, conflict is growing between the city and residents. The two sides held a meeting, but residents rejected adding public rentals, and they could not find common ground. At Haan Jugong complexes 6 and 7, where the planned construction cost exceeds 1 trillion won, a variable also emerged in the selection of the builder, with Daewoo Engineering & Construction saying it would not participate in the main bid.
According to the maintenance industry on the 26th, Gwangmyeong and the heads of the reconstruction associations and promotion committees in the Cheolsan and Haan areas held a meeting for more than an hour on the 24th over the issue of reflecting public rental housing. Project officials delivered a joint signature letter to the city expressing their opposition to adding public rentals.
An official of the integrated reconstruction maintenance project committee for Haan Jugong complexes 6 and 7 said, "The association head and co-chairs delivered a joint signature letter and made clear their opposition to adding public rentals," and added, "Since the city requested that rental housing be reflected, we conveyed the view that the city, not the contractor, should present an alternative." The official continued, "Rather than reaching specific agreements, it ended with confirming each other's positions."
The conflict surfaced when Gwangmyeong on the 19th sent an official letter titled "Request to reflect public rental housing when establishing or changing reconstruction maintenance project plans" to reconstruction associations, promotion committees, and designated developers in its jurisdiction. The city says it is necessary to reflect a public rental supply plan to reduce residential imbalances that can arise during large-scale maintenance projects and to secure public interest.
When the Cheolsan and Haan reconstruction projects began, reflecting public rentals was not a mandatory condition. According to the district-unit plan for Cheolsan and Haan housing sites prepared by Gwangmyeong in 2024, the base floor area ratio is 250%, and the cap floor area ratio from providing public facilities is 280%. If eco-friendly or intelligent buildings, long-life housing, or public rental housing are reflected, an overlapping floor area ratio of up to 330% can be granted.
Public rentals were one of several incentive items eligible for additional floor area ratio, and the developer could choose them. However, after the project moved forward, Gwangmyeong separately singled out public rentals and asked that they be reflected in the supply plan. Detailed standards, such as the number of units to supply and their share of the total dwellings, have not yet been set.
Residents push back, saying they already bear substantial public contributions during reconstruction. The Cheolsan and Haan Reconstruction Association says it accepted contributed acceptance totaling about 14.8%—about 8% from the zoning upgrade from Type 2 general residential to Type 3 general residential, and 6.8% in the process of applying the cap floor area ratio.
Residents worry that if public rentals are added on top of this, the volume for general sale will shrink and members' contributions could rise. They also say it is hard to recalculate business feasibility because the scale of public rental supply, the acquisition price, and how additional floor area ratio would be applied have not been decided.
A variable also emerged in the process of selecting the builder. In the integrated reconstruction of Haan Jugong complexes 6 and 7, with a planned construction cost of 1.1549 trillion won, Daewoo Engineering & Construction officially said it would not participate in the main bid. Daewoo Engineering & Construction attended the site briefing on the 24th along with IPARK Hyundai Development Company and JEIL Construction Co., but explained that it attended for market research and does not plan to actually bid. Bidding closes on the 18th of next month.
The maintenance industry believes that the lack of decisions on the scale and application method of public rental supply could weigh on builders' business feasibility reviews and bidding decisions.
At Haan Jugong complex 5, the first and second bidding rounds to select the builder in May and July ended with no bids, and the third round closes on the 26th. The two previous failures occurred before Gwangmyeong sent its official letter. Still, with the new variable of public rentals emerging, attention is on the decisions of builders participating in this round.
A Gwangmyeong official said, "We heard citizens' voices through the meeting," and added, "We will continue to listen to citizens' opinions and work to find measures."