The second phase of the large-scale performance venue project, 'Art Center Incheon,' is facing difficulties as it has been halted twice during central government reviews.
According to the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority on the 24th, the 'Art Center Incheon Phase 2 Project,' which was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in July, was recently rejected in the central investment review. The Ministry requested a re-examination of the project's appropriateness, including securing economic and financial feasibility, stating that the 'reconsideration' items suggested in the previous investment review had not been addressed.
Phase 2 of Art Center Incheon is a project to construct an opera house with 1,439 seats and an art & tech center, an artistic hub space, next to the concert hall opened in 2018 in Songdo International City during Phase 1. The facility will be built with two basement floors and eight above-ground floors.
The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority first submitted the Art Center Incheon Phase 2 project to the first central investment review in December last year, but after it was rejected for reconsideration, they revised the project plan together with the Incheon Research Institute.
The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority worked to secure project feasibility by reducing the total floor area from 40,940㎡ to 37,750㎡ and cutting the expected workforce from 132 to 52. Despite rising construction material and labor costs, the total project cost was reduced from 211.5 billion KRW to 210.3 billion KRW. They resubmitted the project to the second central investment review in July, but it was rejected again.
Aerial view of Art Center Incheon. The building on the right shows the Opera House and Art & Tech Center to be developed in the second phase of the project. [Provided by Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority]
As the Art Center Phase 2 project has failed to pass the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's central investment review twice, there is a possibility that the originally scheduled completion date of March 2028 may be delayed or the project may be canceled altogether.
The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority plans to analyze the results of this review, revise the project plan, and reapply for the central investment review next year. To this end, they are considering commissioning a study to recalculate the 'Benefit-Cost (B/C)' ratio. The existing B/C ratio for the Art Center Phase 2 project is only 0.16, far below the standard value of 1.
The Art Center Incheon construction project originally started as a structure where the private developer NSIC (Songdo International City Development Limited Company) would develop an apartment complex in Songdo International City, use the profits to build a cultural complex, and then donate it to the city.
However, after the completion of Phase 1, the Phase 2 project was delayed for a long time due to disagreements over construction cost settlements among the developer NSIC, Incheon City, and the construction company POSCO Engineering & Construction. As a result, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority took over the project as a public finance project.
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