Park Chanho's Gangnam Building Bought for 7 Billion KRW 20 Years Ago Now Worth 80 Billion KRW

Purchased Sinsa-dong Building in 2003 and Built New Structure
Excellent Transportation Infrastructure... Current Value Estimated at 80 Billion KRW

Park Chanho, known as the "Korean Express" and a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player in the United States, reportedly owns a building in Gangnam that he purchased in 2003, which is now valued at approximately 80 billion KRW.

According to a report by News1 on June 8, Park acquired a building in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul in 2003. The building sits on a land area of about 687.6 square meters (208 pyeong) and consists of four basement levels and 13 above-ground floors. It was purchased entirely in cash under the name of a corporation in which Park holds a 100% stake.

The building, completed in 2005, was acquired before the mandatory real transaction reporting system was implemented in 2006, so the exact purchase price has not been disclosed. Industry sources estimate that the purchase price at the time was about 7.3 billion KRW. After acquiring the property, Park reportedly invested about 7 billion KRW to construct the current building.

Park Chanho, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States Photo by Yonhap News

The building is located along Dosan-daero in Sinsa-dong, just an eight-minute walk from Sinsa Station, where Seoul Subway Line 3 and the Shinbundang Line intersect. In addition, the planned opening of the Wirye-Sinsa Line near Eulji Hospital Intersection will further enhance the transportation infrastructure in the area.

Currently, the top 13th floor of the building houses Park's corporate office. The Park Chanho Scholarship Foundation and an asset management company are also tenants, and a Lexus showroom, a luxury automobile brand, occupies the first floor.

An official from Building Road Real Estate Brokerage Corporation estimated the building's current market value at about 80 billion KRW, based on transactions in 2021 and 2023 for buildings on the main street in front of Exit 8 of Sinsa Station within the same block, which sold for 420 million KRW and 550 million KRW per pyeong, respectively.

This estimate was calculated by multiplying the land area of 208 pyeong by a projected price of 385 million KRW per pyeong, which takes into account factors such as the building's age, location, and size.

The official added, "We also considered the fact that an old building over 30 years old on the main street in the diagonally opposite block in Nonhyeon-dong was sold for 260 million KRW per pyeong in November last year."