Goyang City: "Gyeonggi's Rejection of Baekseok Office Building Investment Review Is Hard to Understand"

Goyang Left with Prolonged Vacancy Due to Repeated Investment Review Rejections
Significant Administrative and Financial Losses... Utilizing Vacant Space for Venture Companies Is Essential
City: "Rejected at Preliminary Review Without Deliberation... An Unjust Decision by Gyeonggi Province"

Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Donghwan) expressed deep regret on the 13th after Gyeonggi Province rejected the "investment review for the utilization of the Baekseok Office Building," calling it "a decision that hinders the efficient use of public assets and the improvement of citizen convenience."

Baekseok Office Building. Provided by Goyang Special City

The city stated, "The Baekseok Office Building is a public asset donated to Goyang through a private development project. Due to Gyeonggi Province's repeated rejections of the investment review, the building has been left vacant for an extended period. This is an inefficient situation that leads to both administrative and financial losses."

The city further emphasized, "It is unreasonable to require a separate feasibility study or investment review process for a project that aims to remodel a donated asset for use as a venture office facility, and rejecting it at the preliminary review stage without even deliberation is an unjust decision that exceeds the authority of Gyeonggi Province."

Additionally, a city official stated, "Continuously rejecting the project in the investment review process, not based on the review criteria but on arbitrary reasons such as the city council's consent, is an action that hinders the efficient use of city assets and the attraction of venture companies. It is deeply regrettable that public assets worth several hundred billion won are being left unused."

Meanwhile, in November last year, the court ruled in favor of only 26.2 billion won in the "Baekseok Office Building donation delay lawsuit" filed by Goyang against Yojin Development, which was less than the 45.6 billion won claimed by the city. Furthermore, nearly half of Goyang's administrative departments are currently dispersed in private buildings outside of the city hall, with approximately 1.3 billion won spent annually on rent and maintenance costs.

Accordingly, the city had planned to use more than 50% of the Baekseok Office Building as a facility for venture companies, and the remaining space as offices for relocating external departments, thereby aiming to boost the local economy and administrative efficiency at the same time.

The city stated, "This project is the implementation of the public property management plan originally approved by the city council in 2018 and has been promoted legally and procedurally. It is difficult to understand Gyeonggi Province's decision to reject the project without substantive review, and we express deep regret over this action, which disregards the public interest of attracting venture companies and improving administrative space efficiency."

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