Owner Briefing Scheduled Next Month
Target to Pass Detailed Safety Inspection Within October
Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, Owns Large Area
[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] Seocho Sampung, once considered a symbol of ‘Gangnam luxury apartments’ along with Apgujeong Hyundai and Jamsil Asia Athlete Village, has entered the final countdown for reconstruction. It is an apartment recently gaining fame as it is known to be owned by Han Dong-hoon, the Minister of Justice.
According to the maintenance industry on the 21st, the Seocho Sampung Apartment Reconstruction Promotion Preparation Committee in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, will hold two briefings for owners at the Seocho Culture and Arts Center on the 16th and 23rd of next month. Although it passed the preliminary safety inspection for reconstruction in May last year, it has postponed the detailed safety inspection anticipating deregulation under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. A committee official explained, "The goal is to complete fundraising by May, apply for the detailed safety inspection, and pass it by the end of October." Generally, reconstruction proceeds in the order of ‘preliminary safety inspection → safety inspection → designation of maintenance district → establishment of promotion committee → establishment of association → selection of construction company → approval of project implementation → approval of management disposition plan → relocation and demolition → commencement of construction and sale.’
Sampung Apartment is a large complex with 24 buildings up to 15 floors and a total of 2,390 households, completed in 1988. Although now aged, it was considered one of the three major luxury apartments along with Hyundai in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, and Asia Athlete Village in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu until the early 2000s. Being the last large complex built in Gangnam, it was very popular at the time of sale in 1986, recording a competition rate of 10 to 1 despite the highest sale price (1.33 million KRW per 3.3㎡). Nearby are Seocho Legal Town including the Seoul High Court, and it is close to the Gangnam business district, so many legal professionals and corporate executives resided there. Minister Han is also known to own one unit of 165㎡ in this complex.
The biggest advantage of this apartment is its location. Within a 600m radius, there are Sapaeng Station on Subway Line 9 and Gyodae Station on Lines 2 and 3. It is also close to the Express Bus Terminal and Gangnam Station on Line 2. It includes Wonmyeong Elementary School and is within walking distance to Banpo High School, which belongs to the Gangnam 8 school district.
Although reconstruction in Seocho and Banpo areas was active in the 2000s, Sampung Apartment’s reconstruction momentum was weak even after surpassing the 30-year reconstruction eligibility period. A high floor area ratio (FAR) was a stumbling block. The average FAR is 221%, much higher than the 180% standard generally used to judge reconstruction feasibility. Another obstacle is the difficulty in obtaining residents’ consent due to many elderly residents who have lived in large units for a long time.
However, as the government eased various reconstruction regulations including safety inspections and the Seoul city government under Mayor Oh Se-hoon began supporting the project, residents’ voices wanting to push the project grew louder. Last November, Seoul City changed the Seocho apartment district, which includes Sampung and Woosung 5th Apartment, to a district unit plan and established reconstruction guidelines. Also, Mayor Oh recently announced ‘Matchbox Apartment Phase 2.0,’ conditionally allowing the construction of super-high-rise apartments over 50 floors.
A maintenance industry official said, "Although it is a large complex with an excellent location, the feasibility depends on the FAR exceeding 200%," adding, "We need to consider various plans such as increasing the FAR through rapid integrated planning or one-to-one reconstruction to avoid the excess profit recovery system."
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