Will Redevelopment of 2,500 Households in Jangwi 15 District Be Re-Promoted?

"Invalidation of Maintenance Zone Forced Cancellation"
Victory in Appeal Trial as Well

If Seoul City Gives Up Appeal
Union Establishment Procedures Possible Within the Year
Obstacles Such as Small-Scale Maintenance and New Construction Also Present

Seongbuk-gu Jangwi New Town, Seoul Panorama

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The possibility of resuming the redevelopment project of Jangwi New Town District 15 in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, which consists of a total of 2,500 households, has increased.

According to the maintenance industry on the 14th, it was confirmed that the Jangwi District 15 Union Establishment Promotion Committee recently won the appeal trial of the "Lawsuit to Confirm the Invalidity of the Discretionary Cancellation of the Maintenance District Designation" at the Seoul High Court. Following the first trial ruling at the end of last year, where the court ruled that Seoul City's discretionary cancellation of the Jangwi District 15 maintenance district designation was invalid, they secured another victory. A representative of the Jangwi District 15 Promotion Committee explained, "We understand that Seoul City failed to present evidence that could overturn the claim that the discretionary cancellation of the maintenance district was unjust until the third hearing."

Jangwi District 15, located within Jangwi New Town, was designated as a maintenance district in 2010 with an area of 189,450㎡, and a redevelopment project for 2,500 households was pursued. However, the city revoked the district designation by discretion in May 2018 as part of the New Town exit strategy. The promotion committee subsequently filed lawsuits against Seoul City and Seongbuk-gu Office, winning both cases. If Seoul City does not appeal, the promotion committee expects to be able to resume the project within this year.

However, there are still many obstacles to the project in Jangwi District 15. This is due to conflicts with small-scale maintenance projects that have been continuously emerging since the district designation was canceled. Currently, the 'Jangwi 15-1 District' street house maintenance project is underway in this area. This project involves constructing 206 apartment units in three buildings in the Jangwi-dong 258-2 area, and Hoban Construction was selected as the contractor in February this year. Additionally, since the district designation cancellation, there has been a continuous construction of multi-family and row houses, making it difficult to gain residents' consent.

The extension of the sunset deadline under the maintenance project sunset system is also a variable. According to this system, areas where the promotion committee was approved before the enforcement date of February 1, 2012, must apply for union establishment approval by March 2 of this year, securing consent from more than half of the landowners and a 75% union establishment agreement rate; otherwise, the maintenance district will be canceled. Even if they ultimately win the lawsuit against Seoul City, the district could still be canceled due to the sunset system regulations.

The Jangwi District 15 side plans to quickly resume the project through procedures such as collecting union establishment consent forms. Currently, the union member consent rate is 60%. A promotion committee representative said, "We plan to hold a general meeting for union establishment around the end of this year or the first half of next year," adding, "Since the shortage of housing supply in Seoul is a major issue, we expect Seoul City will not unreasonably block large-scale projects."