[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Recently, the popularity of officetels has been rising in the market as the supply of officetels with significantly increased parking spaces grows.
With the revision of related laws, the parking installation standards for officetels are now calculated based on the exclusive area, the same as for apartment complexes, and each officetel unit is considered as one household. As a result, effectively, one parking space per unit has become mandatory. In particular, with the revision that mechanical parking facilities cannot exceed 30% of the total parking area except in Incheon, there is a trend of expanding the underground total floor area to secure more self-parking spaces.
Accordingly, while strong regulations are imposed on apartments and other multi-family housing, officetels face relatively fewer restrictions. Officetels with small areas around 20 to 40㎡ (exclusive area) and equipped with one parking space per unit are advantageous for leasing after completion, leading to expectations of high demand.
A representative example is the 'Brownstone Galaxy' officetel, planned for sale by JK Partners in Tangjeong-myeon, Asan-si, Chungnam. Located near the main gate of the Samsung Display plant, this officetel is expected to have abundant rental demand. It is designed as studios or 1.5-room units with a total of 844 units: ▲253 units of 21.15㎡ ▲270 units of 24.35㎡. Parking spaces have been secured at about 1.1 spaces per unit, totaling 891 spaces.
A sales official said, "This is the first officetel built on support facility land only 500 meters from the main gate of the Samsung Display plant," adding, "It was designed as a small officetel considering the future demand from Samsung Display employees."
KB Real Estate Trust is supplying the 'Suwon Station Gaon Palace Officetel' in Suwon Station Area 1 District, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. It offers 696 units mainly in small sizes ranging from 23 to 39㎡. The parking lot is designed with about 1.1 spaces per unit, totaling 765 spaces. The complex consists of three buildings from basement level 5 to ground level 8, all composed of small units.
Samho and Daelim Corporation plan to sell the 'e-Pyeonhansesang City Bupyeong Station' officetel near Bupyeong Station, Incheon Bupyeong-gu, where Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 and Incheon Subway Line 1 pass, within this month. It consists of 1,208 units sized 23 to 41㎡. The three buildings, from basement level 6 to ground level 20, have parking spaces totaling 1,298, about 1.1 spaces per unit.
An industry expert said, "Since parking lots for neighborhood living facilities (commercial spaces) that come together with officetels must also be secured, it is common for the number of parking spaces to exceed the number of officetel units," adding, "In areas with severe parking shortages, the value of officetels with sufficient parking spaces will increase."
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