Will Construction Begin Next Year for Sangam Lotte Shopping Mall After 10 Years of Delay?

City Councilor Kim Ki-deok: ‘Reapplication for Permission to Change the 10-Year Stalled Sangam Lotte Shopping Mall Plan’ Must No Longer Disappoint Residents

Development Plan (Change) Submitted to Mapo-gu to Reduce Officetels and Increase Sales Facilities by 50% (from 10,000 pyeong to 15,000 pyeong)

Prompt Approval and Permission Needed to Start Construction in 2024 and Meet Local Residents’ Expectations, Even if Delayed

Site planned for construction of Sangam DMC Lotte Complex Shopping Mall

The Sangam DMC Complex (Lotte) Shopping Mall is expected to be actively pursued after 10 years of project delays.

Seoul City Councilor Kim Ki-deok (Mapo 4, Democratic Party) announced that the ‘Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall’ project, one of the top 10 representative pledges made to residents five years ago, has submitted a ‘Proposal for the Change of Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall District Unit Plan and Detailed Development Plan’ to Mapo-gu Office on July 24. This plan reduces the number of officetels and increases sales facilities by 50%, from 10,000 pyeong to 15,000 pyeong.

Accordingly, the project, which had been stalled for about 10 years since 2013, is expected to be actively resumed.

The ‘Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall Project’ is an area designated and announced as a special planning zone by Seoul City in June 2011, targeting three sites (I3, I4, I5) in the Sangam DMC complex, totaling approximately 20,644 m2 (6,245 pyeong), with a blueprint to develop a large-scale complex cultural and commercial facility. In April 2013, the site was sold to Lotte for about 197.174 billion KRW through competitive bidding as a complex shopping mall site.

To proceed with the development, Lotte prepared a detailed development plan in September 2013 and requested approval from Seoul City. However, Seoul City did not grant permission, citing the need for a win-win agreement between local merchants and Lotte Shopping, urging negotiations with nearby traditional markets.

In response, Lotte formed a win-win TF team in July 2015 as requested by the city and held 14 TF meetings over about three years until June 2018, along with nine stakeholder interviews and two meetings between Lotte and the opposition group’s win-win council, prolonging the process for six years.

Relatedly, on September 3, 2018, Councilor Kim Ki-deok, immediately after being elected to the 10th City Council, pointed out the current status and problems of the continuously delayed ‘Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall Project’ to Mayor Park Won-soon during the 283rd temporary session, emphasizing the inconvenience to residents of Mapo, Seodaemun, and Eunpyeong districts in the western area and the hindrance to regional development.

In particular, regarding the opposition from ‘Mangwon Market,’ Councilor Kim expressed regret over the five-year delay in building permits under the pretext of win-win negotiations with Mangwon Market, despite about 95% of local residents supporting the project. He strongly criticized, “Why is the DMC Lotte Shopping permit being withheld when Lotte, the project owner, has accepted most of the win-win conditions over three years?”

Councilor Kim stated, “I understand that stakeholder opinion gathering was deemed unnecessary at the March 2018 win-win TF meeting,” and emphasized, “Now Seoul City should organize the principles and finalized matters and promptly prepare a coordination plan.”

Kim Ki-deok, Seoul City Council Member

Notably, on April 10, 2019, Councilor Kim Ki-deok also arranged a negotiation table with the late Mayor Park Won-soon and obtained a response to proceed with the approval process. Subsequently, on May 13 of the same year, Seoul City sent an official notice to Lotte requesting submission of the ‘Detailed Development Plan for DMC Project Site,’ indicating smooth progress in the procedure. Most importantly, in January 2021, about three years later, the City’s Urban and Architectural Joint Committee approved a revised ‘Sangam DMC Special Planning Zone Detailed Development Plan’ including 10,000 pyeong of sales facilities and approximately 530 officetel units.

This broke the six-year stalemate caused by Seoul City’s delays, and construction seemed likely to start in 2021. However, Lotte internally delayed the project for about three years, causing continuous setbacks in the commencement of construction.

To resolve the delay issue of the ‘Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall,’ Councilor Kim held a meeting with Lotte at the end of March this year, arguing that “10,000 pyeong of sales facilities cannot compete,” and urged a significant reduction in officetels and an expansion of sales facilities from 10,000 pyeong to 20,000 pyeong.

Regarding the submission of the ‘Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall Urban Planning Change (Draft)’ documents on the 24th of last month, Councilor Kim said, “Although construction was delayed due to Seoul City’s win-win process and Lotte’s internal circumstances, bringing a plan (design) change that increases sales facilities by 50% is at least something residents can welcome.” He added, “I expect the Seoul City Urban and Architectural Joint Committee to promptly approve this and for procedures such as building and traffic reviews to proceed quickly, accelerating the promotion of the ‘Sangam DMC Complex Shopping Mall Project.’”

Finally, Councilor Kim expressed hope that “not only residents of the western districts of Mapo, Seodaemun, and Eunpyeong but also foreigners will visit, making it a new tourism shopping hub attracting domestic and international tourists.” He stated, “Seoul citizens expect Sangam DMC to become a world-class landmark. We must no longer disappoint residents, and all remaining permissions, reviews, and sequential procedures for construction commencement must be expedited.” He pledged to make every effort to ensure that construction can begin in earnest next year.

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