[Constructionin] "Reviewed Samsung C&T Proposal... Will Plant 'Xi' Brand in Jamsil Woosung"

Lee Sang, Head of Architecture, Housing, and Urban Maintenance at GS Engineering & Construction
Jamsil Woosung Bidding War for 1.7 Trillion KRW Construction
"We Will Implement a Differentiated Design Strategy"
Attention on Expansion into Seongsu 1 District and Apgujeong

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"We thoroughly analyzed the proposals for the contractor selection competition of Hannam 4 District, which was awarded to Samsung C&T. We will not launch a separate high-end brand but aim to meet the expectations of the union members with the 'Xi' brand."

Lee Sang-ui, Executive Director of GS Construction's Architecture, Housing, and Urban Maintenance Division, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the GS Construction office in Jongno, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Lee Sang, Executive Director and Head of the Architecture, Housing, and Urban Maintenance Division at GS Engineering & Construction, who is in charge of the bidding for the contractor selection competition for the Jamsil Woosung 1, 2, and 3 reconstruction project starting from the 4th of next month, made this statement. The industry expects Samsung C&T to also participate in the bidding alongside GS Engineering & Construction. If so, this will become the most intense bidding competition this year since the Hannam 4 District contract battle in January, where Samsung C&T and Hyundai Engineering & Construction faced off. The winning construction company in this bidding will have a winner-takes-all opportunity for a total construction cost of 1.6934 trillion KRW.

Executive Director Lee said, "There are limitations to what I can say before the bidding," but throughout the conversation, he emphasized "union member satisfaction" and "the substance of the union members." He stated, "We spent a lot of time gathering opinions from the Jamsil Woosung union members and understanding their demands and expectations," adding, "We plan to present design proposals and business conditions that carefully reflect these." Lee is an expert who has been involved in urban maintenance for about 20 years and oversees the entire housing and urban maintenance business at GS Engineering & Construction.

GS Engineering & Construction has long been dedicated to winning this project. However, at the end of last year, the union raised the construction cost per 3.3㎡ from 8.8 million KRW to 9.2 million KRW and partially relaxed the conditions for guaranteed completion, changing the bidding conditions. The change in bidding conditions can be interpreted not as a desire for a sole contract with GS Engineering & Construction, which had previously bid alone, but as an intention to hear conditions from other construction companies as well. In September last year, GS Engineering & Construction's sole bid for the contractor selection was unsuccessful.

Executive Director Lee said, "Based on the trust and quality that Xi holds, we will implement a differentiated design strategy," adding, "We will provide the desired residential environment through customized designs for each complex and differentiate ourselves through the premiumization of common spaces such as community facilities and landscaping." He emphasized, "Through these strengths, we will make it so that a high-end brand is not felt to be necessary."

Lee Sang-ui, Executive Director of GS Construction's Architecture, Housing, and Urban Maintenance Division, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the GS Construction office in Jongno, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

If GS Engineering & Construction wins this bidding, they will reconstruct a large apartment complex under the 'Xi' brand in Jamsil. In Jamsil, reconstruction has not been carried out under a single brand but has been promoted as a consortium project. GS Engineering & Construction reconstructed Jamsil Jugong 3 Complex as a consortium with Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Development Company, and Jamsil Jugong 4 Complex as a consortium with Samsung C&T.

Executive Director Lee said, "Last year, about 88% of the total urban maintenance project contracts, amounting to 2.723 trillion KRW, were achieved in Seoul," adding, "We expect the volume of maintenance project contracts in the Seoul area to increase over the next 2 to 3 years, so we plan to focus on Seoul and the metropolitan area going forward." He is paying attention to advancing into Seongsu 1 District and Apgujeong after Jamsil Woosung.

Additionally, Executive Director Lee is exploring ways to upgrade the urban maintenance sector. He said, "The maintenance business sector is the most 'analog' area where digital transformation (DT) is least applied," adding, "We are continuously making efforts to digitize existing project experience data and incorporate digital technologies into the bidding process."