An 87.4 Billion Won Capital Gain... Lee Seungyeop Hits a Home Run with Building Investment

Seongsu-dong Building Purchased for 29.3 Billion Won 16 Years Ago
Value Per Pyeong Reaches 150 Million Won... Total Now at 116.7 Billion Won

It has been confirmed that Lee Seungyeop, former manager of the Doosan Bears and current coach for the Yomiuri Giants, has earned an astronomical capital gain after the value of a building he purchased in Seongsu-dong 16 years ago has more than tripled.

According to the real estate industry and ValueMap on January 15, the estimated market value of the building in Seongsu-dong 1-ga, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, owned by former manager Lee, reached 116.7 billion won as of last month. Considering that the purchase price in 2009 was 29.3 billion won, the simple capital gain amounts to a staggering 87.4 billion won.

Lee Seungyeop during his tenure as manager of Doosan Bears. Photo by Yonhap News

Lee purchased this building near Ttukseom Station during his time as a player for the Yomiuri Giants. At that time, the building was being used as the headquarters of the shoe company Esquire and consisted of three basement floors and ten above-ground floors. The building sits on a land area of 1,489 square meters (approximately 450 pyeong) and has a total floor area of 9,881 square meters (about 2,989 pyeong). When Lee acquired the property, the Seongsu-dong area was anticipating the opening of an extension to the Bundang Line, and there was optimism about value appreciation due to local redevelopment.

His investment foresight has proven itself year after year. Seongsu-dong, once a semi-industrial area lined with old factories such as print shops and repair shops, has now been transformed into what is called the "Brooklyn of Korea," becoming the most sought-after commercial district among Millennials & Gen Z. Lee’s building is located in the best spot in Seongsu-dong, just a two-minute walk from Ttukseom Station on Subway Line 2 and a four-minute walk from Seoul Forest Station on the Suin-Bundang Line, making it a double-station area and a corner property on a main road.

A representative from a real estate brokerage firm stated, "In May 2020, the building across from Lee’s was sold for 129 million won per pyeong. Even when conservatively factoring in annual inflation, the current value per pyeong exceeds 150 million won, and applying this to the land area, the building’s value easily surpasses 110 billion won."

Currently, most floors of the building are leased in their entirety to the shared office company Heyground. While the building was initially purchased solely under Lee’s name, he later transferred shares to his wife Lee Songjeong and their two sons, so it is now managed as a family joint ownership.