Office and Sports Facilities to Be Built on Seocho Kolon Sporex Site

Seoul City Holds Urban Architecture Joint Committee and Approves Detailed Development Plan as Proposed

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] A 25-story mixed-use office building will be constructed on the prime land of the Kolon Sporex site in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Considering the 35-year history of the location, a sports complex mall will be created underground.

On the 28th, Seoul City held the 7th Urban Architecture Joint Committee meeting and announced on the 29th that the detailed development plan for the special planning zone around 1324-2 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, was approved as originally proposed.

This is the first detailed development plan for the site since Seoul City relaxed the pre-negotiation system target site size from over 10,000㎡ to over 5,000㎡. The pre-negotiation system is a system that requires private developers to consult with Seoul City in advance to simultaneously secure the validity of urban planning changes, such as zoning upgrades, and the public nature of development when developing a site.

After about six months of pre-negotiations with Kolon Global, the landowner, since August last year, Seoul City decided to build a 25-story mixed-use office building on the site (8,900㎡). The city explained that the mixed-use office building development plan was finalized in conjunction with strengthening the international business district function for the nearby Lotte Chilsung site, as suggested in the Seoul Plan.

On the 2nd and 3rd basement floors, a sports complex mall equipped with a swimming pool and bowling alley will be created. Considering the industrial characteristics of Gangnam’s downtown, which is a dense area of startup companies, various public spaces such as startup support collaboration spaces will also be established. On the rooftop, a rooftop park will be created to return the view obscured by the building forest to the citizens.

The public contribution of approximately 66.3 billion KRW generated from this project will be used for compensation for the long-unexecuted road site on Seocho-daero and for complex cultural facilities such as libraries.

Seoul City plans to start the permitting process, including architectural design, various impact assessments, and architectural review, aiming to begin construction in 2023.

Lee Sang-myeon, Acting Director of the Public Development Planning Division, stated, "With the decision of this district unit plan, the international business function of Gangnam downtown will be further strengthened, and the site is expected to become a new local landmark loved by Seoul citizens."