Jongno-gu Office and Joint Fire Station Project Accelerates... Construction to Begin Next Year

Conditional Approval in Central Investment Review for Local Finance
Project Fulfills 12-Year Aspiration... Contractor Selection Begins in May

The integrated development project for the Jongno-gu Office and Joint Fire Station—a long-awaited project that has been in the works for 12 years in Jongno-gu, Seoul—has finally gained real momentum.

On April 23, Jongno-gu (District Mayor Jeong Moon-heon) announced that it has conditionally passed the '2026 First Central Investment Review for Local Finance' administered by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and has started the bidding process to select a construction company. This marks the completion of the preliminary administrative procedures that have been ongoing for 12 years since the initial plan was formulated in 2014.

Aerial view of Jongno District Office and Joint Fire Station. Provided by Jongno District Office.

The integrated government building will be constructed on the site of the Jongno-gu Office (146-2 Susong-dong), featuring 6 basement floors and 16 above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 83,985 square meters. The total project cost is 614.5 billion won, with 187 billion won funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and 427.5 billion won funded by Jongno-gu.

The main office building, the district council, and the public health center will be housed in a single structure, with resident amenities also provided to enable one-stop administrative services. The Joint Fire Station will accommodate the Jongno Fire Station, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters, and the Integrated Disaster Prevention Center, serving as a disaster response control tower.

It took several years just to determine the direction of the project. Even after the current plan was finalized in 2019, the project underwent various review procedures, including the excavation and preservation measures for buried cultural assets (the site of Saboksi), demolition of the former Susong Elementary School building, and performance-based fire safety design. More recently, the project underwent another central investment review due to increased construction costs resulting from rising construction prices.

Jongno-gu completed a feasibility reassessment in July last year and finalized the detailed design in January this year. With the latest approval, all preliminary procedures have been completed. The district plans to begin the contractor selection process in May this year. The goal is to break ground in 2027 and complete construction by 2031.

District Mayor Jeong Moon-heon stated, "I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the residents who have patiently waited for the construction of the integrated government building," adding, "Now that all procedures are complete, we will proceed without delay to create a new landmark for Jongno—a top-tier administrative and cultural complex."

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