Partnership aims to secure specialized design expertise and strengthen project quality from the earliest stages

Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust has signed an MOU with Gansam Architects & Engineers to identify new sites for urban mixed-use development projects. [Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust]
Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust has signed an MOU with Gansam Architects & Engineers to identify new sites for urban mixed-use development projects. [Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust]

Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust announced Wednesday that it has signed an MOU with Gansam Architects & Engineers to identify new sites for urban mixed-use development projects.

The agreement aims to secure specialized design expertise for urban mixed-use development, raise the quality of development plans from the earliest project stages and lay the groundwork for swift, systematic execution.

Gansam Architects & Engineers is one of South Korea's leading design firms, with a track record of large-scale mixed-use and urban-space projects including Paradise City in Incheon, LG Group Science Park and the Sinnae Compact City.

The two companies plan to identify high-potential urban mixed-use development sites, establish systematic development strategies from the outset, head off permitting risk early and maximize the overall quality of their development plans.

Urban mixed-use development is an emerging field driven by recent legislation, making the role of a developer with strong development and operational capabilities especially critical. Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust holds the largest pool of redevelopment specialists among domestic real estate trust companies and, as of the second quarter of this year, leads projects at 40 sites nationwide — covering about 45,000 households — either as project agent or project developer.

"Urban mixed-use development is a business where managing permitting risk and coordinating among stakeholders is just as important as project speed," a Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust official said. "We will bring together our unrivaled development and management capabilities to ensure stable project execution."

Since the relevant legislation took effect, local governments have been drafting follow-up regulations such as municipal ordinances. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is still in discussions over detailed operating standards, while Busan completed a public notice of its draft operating guidelines in August and is moving toward final confirmation.

Meanwhile, Korea Real Estate Investment & Trust was established in 1996 and is one of South Korea's longest-standing real estate trust companies. Its core business lines include borrowing-type land trusts, urban redevelopment and reconstruction projects conducted through trust arrangements, real estate investment trusts and investment projects.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com