Mayor Lee Hyun-jae: "'Advanced Industry Hub' Camp Colburn Self-Sufficient City Construction to Gain Momentum"

Call for Private Business Operators to Participate in Public-Private Joint Project at the End of This Month
GS Construction, HDC Hyundai Development Company, Korea REITs Association Show Interest

Lee Hyun-jae, Mayor of Hanam City, is explaining the Camp Colburn urban development project, which aims to foster future-oriented advanced industries.

The pre-bid briefing session for the private sector operator recruitment of the Camp Colbern urban development project, which Mayor Lee Hyun-jae of Hanam City is promoting with the goal of fostering future-oriented advanced industries, received great interest from major domestic construction companies and associations such as GS Construction, HDC Hyundai Development Company, and the Korea REITs Association.

According to Hanam City on the 8th, the city and Hanam Urban Corporation held the "Camp Colbern Urban Development Project Private Sector Operator Recruitment Pre-Bid Briefing" at the COEX Conference Hall in Seoul, attended by key guests including Mayor Lee Hyun-jae, Choi Cheol-gyu, President of Hanam Urban Corporation, Shin Dong-su, Director of the Korea REITs Association, Oh Jang-seop, Chairman of the Hanam Citizen Participation Innovation Committee, Kim Byung-soo, Head of the Hanam City Investment Attraction Team, Lee Hee-geun, President of the Hanam City Entrepreneurs Association, and Lee Dong-gi, President of COEX.

The Camp Colbern urban development project, which promotes a public-private joint project centered on actual users, is an urban development project to create a convergence complex to strengthen Hanam City's self-sustaining functions such as future-oriented advanced industries on the approximately 250,000㎡ site of the returned U.S. military base, Camp Colbern, located in the Hasangok-dong area.

This pre-bid briefing was planned to lay the groundwork for successful corporate attraction by promoting detailed information about the bidding project before the announcement of the recruitment of private sector operators for Camp Colbern.

At the briefing, Mayor Lee Hyun-jae explained that Hanam City, where the Camp Colbern site is located, will be connected by five railway lines (Lines 3, 5, 9, Wirye-Sinsa Line, GTX-D and F) and five expressway networks (including the Seoul Metropolitan Area 1st Ring Expressway and Jungbu Expressway), including those under construction, emphasizing the site’s excellent location and high development potential.

He also added that since it is adjacent to the 3rd new town, Gyosan New Town, the project site will benefit from excellent residential conditions through future improvements in commercial support facilities and transportation conditions.

Mayor Lee introduced, "Camp Colbern is in the best location adjacent to Gangnam, Seoul, the largest business hub in South Korea, with the advantage of easy site development. Also, as it is national land owned by the Ministry of National Defense, the land supply price is low, and there is no need to worry about compensation, which is a great strength."

Following this, Hanam Urban Corporation explained the main contents of the recruitment plan, presenting a vision to develop Camp Colbern as a strategic fostering facility where self-sustaining facilities such as office and industrial facilities can be established for Hanam City's industrial development and job creation to attract excellent companies. However, it was also stated that simple data centers and logistics warehouses will be discouraged, but no separate restrictions will be placed on tenant industries and facilities.

Along with this, the main development directions introduced included ▲ promotion of a public-private joint project centered on actual users (allowing development plans reflecting corporate needs) ▲ encouragement of direct use by private sector operators to promote rapid site activation ▲ provision of various incentives (such as one-stop processing support).

Moreover, reflecting the high interest in the Camp Colbern project, various questions were raised during the Q&A session, including ▲ whether private sector operators can propose development concepts and basic plans ▲ whether the lifting of the Greenbelt (GB) affects land compensation prices ▲ whether soil contamination cleanup has been completed.

Mayor Lee personally responded to the Q&A, stating, "Since this pre-bid briefing was held to listen to various opinions before finalizing the recruitment plan, it is naturally possible for private sector operators to propose development concepts and basic plans."

He continued, "Land compensation prices will follow the standards before the lifting of the GB according to Article 23 of the Enforcement Rules of the Land Compensation Act," and explained, "Regarding soil contamination cleanup, all contaminated soil was cleaned up after the withdrawal of the U.S. military base in 2011."

The mayor said, "Hanam City will successfully complete the public-private joint project centered on actual users by reflecting the creative opinions of private sector operators proposed at today's pre-bid briefing into the Camp Colbern urban development project."

Meanwhile, the Camp Colbern site was returned in April 2007. Hanam City, which signed a business agreement with the Ministry of National Defense in 2022 to utilize the Camp Colbern site, plans to conduct a public recruitment for private sector operators to participate in the public-private joint project by the end of October this year.