Supply of Industrial Land at Cost Price... Tax Reduction Benefits
Synergy Expected from Nearby Residential and Cultural Facility Supply
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is taking active steps to attract advanced companies in future industries to the northeastern region of Seoul. The city plans to supply corporate land at cost and provide tax benefits to resident companies.
Seoul announced on the 23rd that it will hold an S-DBC (Seoul Digital Bio City) corporate briefing session around the Changdong Vehicle Depot area at 3 p.m. on the 27th in the large conference room on the 3rd floor of Seoul City Hall. About 70 companies, including large corporations and mid-sized companies in the digital bio and healthcare sectors, will attend the briefing.
Mayor Oh announced on March 26 that, as part of the regional urban transformation project, the Gangbuk area will be transformed into a future industrial economic city combining pleasant residential areas, future-oriented jobs, and emotional cultural spaces. Over the past year, the city has gathered opinions from about 45 companies and institutions, including bio, R&D, research-oriented hospitals, and construction and development companies, emphasizing that the rapid attraction of future advanced companies is essential for the success of S-DBC, and has prepared this briefing accordingly.
At the briefing, Mayor Oh will personally explain innovations in the S-DBC development method and key support measures. Following this, Kim Seung-won, head of Seoul’s Balanced Development Headquarters, will present detailed plans for development and public investment regarding mixed-use and corporate land. After the briefing, the city plans to establish development plans through consultations with companies wishing to move in.
Unlike the existing business model where development profits go to landowners or developers, S-DBC has shifted to a structure that reinvests in attracting companies. Full support will be provided so that development profits can be shared with resident companies that create jobs. Resident companies will be supplied corporate land at cost to reduce the burden of land acquisition costs, and tax benefits such as reductions in acquisition and registration taxes and property taxes will also be provided.
Additionally, for small and medium-sized enterprises, 50-year long-term leased land will be made available at an annual rent within 3% of the cost of development, making it affordable. Public contributions from private development will be invested in building the 'Seoul-type Lab Central' to support companies and research. The Seoul-type Lab Central will consist of a corporate support center, joint research center, community and business spaces, and will establish a network where technology and administration are supported in a one-stop manner.
Based on this, Seoul plans to develop the northeastern region of Seoul, which holds large-scale sites with high potential such as the Kwangwoon University station area, KEPCO training center site, and Imun Vehicle Depot, into an 'S-DBC-centered cluster' extending from Hongneung to Sanggye to Uijeongbu, along with the development of idle sites in the northeastern metropolitan area.
Nearby residential and cultural facilities are also expected to create synergy with S-DBC. When the reconstruction and maintenance project of the 'Sanggye Housing Development District,' which has recently been gaining momentum around the Changdong Vehicle Depot area, is completed by 2030, a high-quality residential environment is expected to be supplied to the workforce of resident companies. The approximately 20,000-seat music-specialized performance hall 'Seoul Arena,' which began construction last November, is also expected to maximize synergy effects with S-DBC upon completion.
Transportation network improvements toward the northeastern region are also planned. Once the GTX-B, C, and E lines open, this area will be reachable within 20 minutes to Gangnam and within 50 minutes to Songdo and Incheon. Two bridges to improve east-west traffic connections and pedestrian accessibility within the Changdong and Sanggye areas are in the final stages of construction. The Changdong Station complex transfer center, scheduled to be completed alongside the opening of GTX-C, has completed its international design competition and is now undergoing full-scale design.
The city plans to designate the Changdong Vehicle Depot area as an 'urban development zone' by the end of this year to enable S-DBC to serve as a hub for economic revitalization in the northeastern region, and to commence the development project in 2027 when railway facilities are removed.
Mayor Oh stated, "Change in the northeastern region is essential for Seoul’s sustainable growth," adding, "We will broadly support bold deregulation and incentives for balanced development so that the northeastern area can be reborn from a bedroom community into a vibrant economic city driving urban competitiveness, and we will devote all our efforts to enabling advanced companies to establish their bases in Changdong and Sanggye."
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