KT Estate Launches Full-Scale Entry into Distributed Office Business

Exterior view of the distributed office 'Jipmusil' Seokchon branch operated by Alicon (Photo by KT Estate)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] KT Estate announced on the 18th that it will enter the distributed office business through a strategic investment in Allicon, a shared office platform company.

KT Estate and Allicon signed a partnership agreement and investment contract last February to jointly promote the distributed office business. The first business site will open at the KT Goyang Tower managed by KT Estate at the end of April.

Through this strategic partnership, KT Estate expects to efficiently utilize its nationwide managed assets and strengthen its business area beyond real estate management to become a space platform company.

Distributed offices provide small office spaces so that employees can work as close as possible to their homes for a flexible work environment. This has the advantage of better proximity to work compared to existing shared offices located in major business districts.

Since COVID-19, the digital transformation of work environments has accelerated worldwide, and global companies such as Google and Facebook have adopted remote work as their basic work system.

In particular, large corporations are establishing offices by hubs, and tech startups such as Woowa Brothers and Zigbang have regularized remote work more than twice a week, increasing the need for distributed offices to replace employees' work.

KT Estate believes that by combining Jibmusil's brand concept and technology with its real estate development and operation capabilities, it can lead the distributed office market, which is expected to grow in the future.

Starting with the Ilsan branch in Goyang City, scheduled to open at the end of April, Allicon and KT Estate plan to secure multiple joint business sites in bedroom towns where remote work locations are needed.

Jin Geunha, head of KT Estate's strategic business division, said, "We plan to expand the space platform business through collaboration and strategic investment with promising proptech companies in the future."

Kim Sungmin, co-CEO of Allicon, explained, "If the business capabilities of KT Estate, a leader in the real estate rental management market, are combined with the distributed office-related technology developed by Jibmusil, we will be able to dominate the domestic work environment market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.