Green Light for Development of 680,000㎡ Kimcheon Songcheon Residential District Drifting for 14 Years ... Construction to Start in 2025

Development Project Plan Announcement

'Supply of 4,000 Apartment Units'

Gyeongbuk Province announced on the 30th that it has established and officially announced the designation (change) of the housing development project zone and development plan (change), as well as the urban development project development plan, for the 682,920㎡ area around Songcheon-ri, Apo-eup, Gimcheon City, which had been stalled for 14 years since the designation of the ‘Songcheon District Housing Development Project’ zone.

Songcheon District was designated as a planned housing development zone by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs in September 2009. However, the project implementer, LH, decided to suspend the project due to worsening internal and external conditions, causing the project to be stalled until now.

Perspective view of Songcheon Residential Development District, Gimcheon.

During this time, there have been continuous requests from landowners and local residents to resume the project, and changes in development conditions such as the promotion of the Southern Inland High-Speed Railway and Daegu Metropolitan Railway (Phase 2), as well as the installation of the North Gumi IC on the Gyeongbu Expressway, which improved accessibility.

To normalize the housing development project, Gyeongbuk Province decided in the second half of 2022, in consultation with the project implementer (LH), Gimcheon City, and landowners, to proceed with the housing development zone as an urban development project applying the land readjustment method.

Through active consultations with the central government (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport), thorough internal reviews of surrounding development conditions and housing demand, and deliberations by the Urban Planning Committee, a normalization plan was found by establishing and announcing the development plan under the ‘Urban Development Act’ and the designation (change) of the zone and development plan (change) under the ‘Housing Development Promotion Act’.

Once Gimcheon City completes administrative procedures such as approval of the implementation plan and authorization of the land readjustment plan, full-scale construction is expected to begin by the end of 2025.

In this regard, a dialogue session with residents of the project zone was held on the 29th at the Apo Nonghyup meeting room to ensure the successful promotion of the project.

About 80 people, including Song Eon-seok, a member of the People Power Party from this area, Kim Chung-seop, Mayor of Gimcheon, Jo Yong-jin, a member of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, political figures, the project implementer (Shin Gwang-ho, Head of LH Gyeongbuk Headquarters), and local residents participated, spending valuable time communicating and addressing doubts about the long-stalled project through Q&A.

At the event, a Gyeongbuk Province official stated, “With the supply of 343,265㎡ of residential construction land in the ‘Songcheon District,’ about 200 detached houses and 4,000 apartment units will be supplied, which is expected to bring in about 9,900 residents and invest approximately 1 trillion KRW in construction industries such as housing development and apartment construction, contributing to the revitalization of the local economy.”

The official added, “We have established a plan to create a separate life-oriented ecological park where nature and people can coexist in the 120,818㎡ neighborhood park located in the center of the housing development zone. If this is reflected in the future, it is expected to serve as a premium residential area behind the Gimcheon and Gumi industrial complexes and greatly contribute to the economic revitalization of the eastern living area of Gimcheon City.”