Three Gangnam District Sites with High Speculation Concerns and Opposition All Fail Moa Town Review

The Seoul Metropolitan Government did not select three project sites in Gangnam-gu as Moa Town target areas due to concerns about speculation or a high rate of resident opposition.

The 'Moahouse' redevelopment project promoted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government has begun its first construction in the Hanyang Yeonrip area of Gwangjin-gu. Following the integrated review approval last June based on the 'Moahouse Project Implementation Plan Establishment Standards,' construction started eight months later. The photo shows the Moahouse construction site in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

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Seoul City held a Moa Town target site selection committee meeting the day before to review three sites and determined that due to resident conflicts and speculation concerns, the establishment of associations and other project progress are uncertain, making Moa Town redevelopment to improve aging low-rise residential areas inappropriate.

The 46,800㎡ area around 26, Samsung 2-dong, Gangnam-gu was not selected because the committee found that about 37% of residents opposed the project, which is a high rate compared to other areas, and the residential environment was relatively good, reducing the feasibility of the project.

The 70,666.3㎡ area around Gaepo 4-dong was not selected because the local infrastructure conditions were favorable and the proportion of neighborhood living facilities was about 41%, which lowered the feasibility of the project.

The 97,881㎡ area around Yeoksam 2-dong was excluded from selection due to concerns about real estate speculation. This site had previously applied for the Moa Town contest in the second half of 2022 but was not selected. Resident opposition within the target area was very high, around 31-50%, and the average monthly transaction volume surged around August 2022, when the Moa Town application was submitted. Before May 2023, the average monthly transaction volume was 2.8, but from May to September, it recorded an average of 16.6 transactions per month.

To fundamentally block speculative demand such as share splitting, the city plans to designate and announce July 7 as the rights assessment reference date for two sites that applied for the third target site selection committee. The rights assessment reference date for the Yeoksam 2-dong area was designated as October 27, 2022. If the management plan establishment procedure is not carried out within two years of the rights assessment reference date within the Moa Town, it will automatically expire.

The city plans to carefully manage even the already selected areas, such as by excluding district boundaries, to prevent Moa Town from becoming a hotbed of resident conflicts and speculation. For areas desired by residents, the city will continue to support smooth project progress through active regulatory relaxation and other measures.

Han Byung-yong, Director of the Seoul Housing Policy Office, said, "The will of residents to promote the project is the most important factor for Moa Housing and Moa Town," adding, "We will clarify the principle of excluding conflict areas due to disagreements over project promotion and prioritizing exclusion of areas with speculation concerns due to abnormal real estate transaction signs by closely analyzing transaction status."

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