Mayor Oh Se-hoon Announces 'Seoul Green Ecological Urban Rebirth Strategy'... Wings Added to Sewoon District Development

Mayor Oh Se-hoon Announces 'Green Ecological Urban Rebirth Strategy' to Revitalize Downtown with High-Density, Mixed-Use Development and Expanded Green Spaces
▲ Boldly Easing Building Regulations on Height and Floor Area Ratio to Promote Urban Development, Expanding Parks and Green Areas through Public Contributions ▲ Designation of 440,000㎡ Lead Project in Sewoon District from Jongmyo to Toegye-ro… Integrated Redevelopment to Create Four Times More Green Space than Yeontral Park
▲ Accelerated Development of Sewoon District as 'Oh Se-hoon Model Pilot Zone' ▲ Hanho Construction Group to Supply ‘Sewoon Prugio Gravity’ and ‘Sewoon Prugio The Botanic’ in Sewoon District

Sewoon Prugio Gravity Bird's-eye View (Photo by Hanho Construction Group)

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Following Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's announcement on the 21st of the ‘Seoul Green Ecological Urban Core Re-creation Strategy,’ which simultaneously promotes high-density, mixed-use development and the securing of green spaces to transform downtown Seoul, the development of Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion District (hereafter Sewoon District), the largest redevelopment area in downtown Seoul, is expected to accelerate.

The core of the ‘Green Ecological Urban Core Re-creation Strategy’ prepared by Seoul City is to boldly relax existing building regulations such as building height (below 90m) and floor area ratio (below 600%), and in return, create public contributions as parks and green spaces to connect the entire urban core with greenery. Through this, the goal is to raise the green space ratio in downtown Seoul, currently only 3.7%, to over 15%, approximately four times the current level.

Seoul City will prioritize the redevelopment of 440,000㎡ in the Sewoon District area, which is the most deteriorated and urgently needs change in downtown Seoul, as a leading project. The redevelopment project of the Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion District around Jongmyo to Toegye-ro, where the Sewoon District is located, was divided into 171 small zones during Mayor Park Won-soon's administration, causing difficulties in development over the past decade.

Through the announcement on this day, Seoul City stated that among the total 171 zones in the Sewoon District, 147 zones that have not progressed in development for a certain period and have passed their sunset date will be regrouped into about 20 integrated maintenance zones and developed using an ‘integrated maintenance method.’ Once the leading project in the Jongmyo to Toegye-ro area is completed, approximately 140,000㎡ of parks and green spaces, more than four times the size of ‘Yeontral Park’ (34,200㎡), will be created in the Sewoon District. This will complete Seoul’s representative green axis in downtown, extending from Bukaksan Mountain through Jongmyo and Namsan to the Han River.

The Sewoon District was designated as Mayor Oh’s first development pledge immediately after his inauguration in 2006. In 2009, Mayor Oh established a redevelopment promotion plan focusing on demolishing the Sewoon Shopping Complex and integrating the surrounding eight zones for development. Mayor Oh planned to invest 1.4 trillion KRW to demolish the Sewoon Shopping Complex and restore the green axis connecting Namsan and Jongmyo, but the global financial crisis and Mayor Oh’s early resignation from office caused setbacks in the Sewoon District development.

Following Mayor Oh, former Mayor Park Won-soon canceled Mayor Oh’s development plan in 2014 and shifted the redevelopment promotion plan to focus on urban regeneration. Instead of redevelopment, the policy shifted to urban regeneration, during which the Sewoon District maintenance zones were divided and deregulated.

The Sewoon District can be called an ‘Oh Se-hoon model pilot district.’ Having become mayor again last year, Mayor Oh expressed regret in November last year, saying, “If the plan had been executed as scheduled before my resignation, downtown Seoul would have been transformed dramatically,” and “I shed tears of anger while looking down from the Sewoon Shopping Complex over Jongno 2-ga to Dongdaemun.” The Sewoon District is a key area of interest for Mayor Oh. Against this backdrop, the announcement of the ‘Green Ecological Urban Core Re-creation Strategy’ to transform downtown Seoul is expected to give momentum to the development of the Sewoon District.

The Sewoon District, which has experienced several development difficulties, has been accelerating its area maintenance since the completion of Euljiro 4-ga Station and Eulji Twin Tower in April 2019. Construction is underway in Sewoon Zones 3, 4, and 5 across Cheonggyecheon Stream. All ten maintenance zones in Sewoon Zone 3 have received project implementation approval, with five zones already under construction. Sewoon Zone 4 has completed all compensation procedures and is undergoing demolition. Sewoon Zone 5 has two zones (5-1 and 5-3) that received project implementation approval in 2020 and are preparing for construction. Eulji Twin Tower was completed in 2019 in Sewoon Zone 6-3, and the mixed-use residential complex ‘Sewoon Prugio Hericity’ is under construction in Zone 6-3-4. The residential complex ‘Sewoon Prugio The Botanic’ in Zone 6-3-3 is scheduled for sale in May.

With the Sewoon District redevelopment now fully underway, attention is focused on the complexes being supplied by Hanho Construction Group, which is leading the redevelopment project.

Hanho Construction Group (Chairman Shin Jong-jeon) is actively progressing a development project integrating 14 zones in the Sewoon District as ‘Sewoon Block.’ Hanho Construction Group is supplying the lifestyle accommodation ‘Sewoon Prugio Gravity’ in Sewoon Zone 3 and the mixed-use residential complex ‘Sewoon Prugio The Botanic’ in Sewoon Zone 6-3.

‘Sewoon Prugio Gravity,’ located in Ipjeong-dong, Jung-gu, Sewoon District Zones 3-6 and 7, consists of two buildings from six basement floors to 20 above-ground floors, with a total of 756 units ranging from 21 to 50㎡ in exclusive area. Facilities and neighborhood commercial spaces are located on floors 1 to 3. Contracts will be conducted from the 22nd to the 24th. Applications can be made without a subscription savings account. These units are not counted as housing, can be individually registered, and are transferable. Using them as lodging facilities means they are not counted as housing, allowing avoidance of comprehensive real estate tax and capital gains tax.

‘Sewoon Prugio The Botanic’ in Sewoon District Zone 6-3-3 near Euljiro 4-ga is scheduled for sale in May. It consists of 564 units in total, from eight basement floors to 20 above-ground floors. Among them, 366 units are officetels (exclusive area 24?59㎡), and 198 units are urban lifestyle housing (exclusive area 36?49㎡). The space is designed mainly as 2.5-room units with two bedrooms and a living room. The community facilities within the complex adopt the concept of an ‘Urban Resort House.’ The rooftop space includes a cinema, glamping, yoga, walking trails, and pet yards and gardening yards are created. Wellness studios, storage rooms per unit, and exclusive lounges are also provided. Both officetels and urban lifestyle housing do not require a subscription savings account, and anyone aged 19 or older can apply. Winners are selected by lottery, and there is no restriction on re-winning.