Daegu City to Invest 900 Billion KRW in Building Knowledge Business Center in Seongseo Industrial Complex ... Completion by 2028

Daegu City is attracting a private knowledge industry center worth 900 billion KRW (four 27-story buildings) in the Seongseo Industrial Complex, providing a creative new industry space where people can work, enjoy, and stay. This initiative aims to foster a hub for future innovative industries and accelerate the modernization and restructuring of aging urban industrial complexes.

The location is the site of Heesung Electronics Plant 1 within Seongseo Industrial Complex (Phase 3). According to the investment plan, under the concept of building a "landmark complex knowledge industry center with one-stop business capabilities," a total project cost of 900 billion KRW will be invested to simultaneously construct four buildings with a total floor area of approximately 280,000㎡, consisting of 2 basement floors and 27 above-ground floors.

Perspective view of the knowledge industry center to be built in Seongseo 3 Industrial Complex.

The plan is to house about 700 companies with customized specialized designs that add creativity to various support facilities such as manufacturing, office spaces, culture, convenience, and officetels, creating employment for more than 5,000 people. Architectural design and permits will begin this year, with construction starting at the end of 2024 and completion targeted for 2028.

This project will provide a working environment reflecting the latest trends preferred by young workers. It will become a cluster leading future innovative industries through diverse and numerous inter-industry convergence interactions. Furthermore, a landmark zone harmonizing with the city will be formed within the industrial complex, revitalizing the industrial complex that otherwise becomes deserted outside working hours.

Daegu City will spare no administrative support to ensure the investment plan is realized early and will manage it to become a successful model of private investment, attracting follow-up projects. This will improve the image of aging industrial complexes and transform them into youth-friendly urban industrial complexes, once again driving the regional economy.

The investing company is Shin-A INC, a company recognized for its expertise in pioneering the distribution of knowledge industry centers in the metropolitan area, Daejeon, and Busan, successfully inducing voluntary follow-up private investments.

According to the investing company, knowledge industry centers have played a key role in providing youth jobs and concentrating new industries in the metropolitan area. Although knowledge industry centers are being supplied in the Daegu area, they have not been activated due to a lack of expertise and failure to meet user demands. The demand is currently analyzed to be sufficient compared to the supply.

Among the 1,464 knowledge industry centers nationwide, 1,143 (78%) are in the metropolitan area, 62 (4.2%) in Busan, and 35 (2.3%) in Daegu, scattered across regions.

Until now, Daegu’s aging industrial complexes have had the great advantage of proximity between residence and workplace due to their urban location. However, they have faced limitations in reorganizing creative new industry spaces to respond to future industries due to declining corporate competitiveness caused by aging, avoidance by young workers, and a lack of startup spaces due to high land prices. Mayor Hong Jun-pyo has pledged to modernize and restructure aging urban industrial complexes through high-density mixed-use development.

The city plans to hold a mixed-use land development contest within this year to support changing industrial facility land to mixed-use land to induce more active private investment. To this end, an ordinance amendment is underway to ease the reinvestment ratio of development profits, which is cited as a burden on private investment.

An Jung-gon, Director of the City’s Economic Bureau, said, “Knowledge industry centers can resolve various problems of aging urban industrial complexes while enhancing the city’s competitiveness. We will activate autonomous and creative private investment to prepare for future industries and transform industrial complexes into new industry spaces that harmonize with the city.”

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