Jamsil Jugong 5 Complex, Ending 6 Years of Waiting?

Maintenance Plan Proposal to Be Submitted This Month

Aligned with Oh Se-hoon’s Housing Policy

Expectations Rise for Approval

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The maintenance plan for Jamsil-dong Jugong Complex 5 in Songpa-gu, considered a barometer of reconstruction in the Jamsil area of Seoul, is expected to be brought to the Seoul City Urban Planning Committee’s review table as early as this month. It has been a full six years since the maintenance plan was prepared, and with Seoul City’s recent policy direction to expand housing supply through easing reconstruction regulations, expectations for its approval are increasing. With the school site issue, which was previously cited as an obstacle to the project, now resolved, if the plan passes the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority this time, the pace of project implementation is expected to accelerate further.

According to Seoul City and Songpa-gu on the 12th, the city recently requested the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority of the Urban Planning Committee to submit the maintenance plan for Jugong Complex 5 in Jamsil for decision. The Subcommittee on Delegated Authority is a body delegated by the city’s Urban Planning Committee to review and decide on maintenance plans, and a meeting is held once the agenda is submitted. The review schedule is under discussion, with the possibility of a meeting being held as early as this month.

Songpa-gu requested the city to hold the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority in May last year, but Seoul City postponed the review, asking for additional reinforcement of residents’ opinions. At the time, there was speculation that Seoul City deliberately delayed the review due to concerns about stimulating housing prices, but the city explained that the postponement was due to incomplete documentation.

Jamsil Jugong Complex 5, along with Eonma in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, is considered a major mid-rise reconstruction project in the Gangnam area, consisting of 3,930 households built in 1978. In 2017, it passed part of Seoul City’s review to upgrade the zoning of general residential areas within the complex to semi-residential areas, deciding to proceed with reconstruction up to 50 floors. According to the maintenance plan announced at last year’s general meeting, this apartment complex is expected to transform into a large complex of 6,827 households through reconstruction.

The nearby Jugong Complexes 1 to 4, which were low-rise apartments, completed reconstruction between 2006 and 2008 and transformed into large-scale high-rise apartments. In contrast, Complex 5, a mid-rise complex, has seen relatively delayed project progress due to concerns about stimulating surrounding housing prices. The association mentioned in a newsletter yesterday regarding the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority, "Whenever news of the delegated review being held spread, housing prices immediately rose, causing Seoul City to repeatedly refrain from holding the review."

According to the association, several meetings involving Seoul City, Songpa-gu, and the association were held to establish the maintenance plan for submission to the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority. An advisory meeting was planned for November last year ahead of the delegated review but was canceled once. The meeting was then held in early December last year, causing the review to be delayed, the association explained.

Whether the agenda is submitted to the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority this time is interpreted as a crucial gateway determining the project’s direction. A Songpa-gu official said, "The maintenance plan must pass the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority to officially announce the maintenance plan change decision," adding, "For the reconstruction to proceed quickly, the maintenance plan’s approval is essential."

Industry insiders are hopeful for the approval of the Jamsil Complex 5 maintenance plan, given that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has recently emphasized expanding housing supply through easing reconstruction regulations. Once the agenda passes to the Subcommittee on Delegated Authority, it is practically equivalent to final approval. Furthermore, since the Seoul City government under former Mayor Park Won-soon had previously withheld submitting the agenda itself, the acceptance of the submission request is interpreted as a change in Seoul City’s stance toward Jamsil Complex 5. With the housing price surge having cooled, the burden of rising prices is also less than last year. If the maintenance plan passes, Jamsil Jugong Complex 5 is expected to become the first project under the ‘Oh Se-hoon-style Reconstruction Normalization’ initiative.

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