To facilitate the resumption of the K-Culture Valley project, which had been halted following the termination of the agreement with a private business entity, the project will now proceed with a mixed approach of private and public development for different plots of land. The conditions will be eased, such as increasing the floor area ratio to attract private developers, with completion targeted for 2028.
Kim Seong-joong, the Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, announced the project plan at a press conference. According to the plan, the 158,000㎡ T2 (Theme Park 2) plot, including the arena, will resume construction within this year, aiming for completion in 2028 under private development. To increase private company participation, guidelines will be relaxed, including raising the floor area and building coverage ratios, allowing long-term leases for structures, and setting a cap on delay compensation.
The K-Pop concert hall ‘Arena’ with a capacity of 42,000 seats, initially started construction in 2021 but has been stalled since April 2023 at 17% completion due to the COVID-19 pandemic and worsening construction market conditions. However, a preliminary study indicated high market potential for the arena, suggesting swift action is needed to restart construction. Public development processes could delay this by over a year.
The Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH) will manage the remaining 144,000㎡ (48% of the total area), including theme park T1, accommodation, and commercial plots. A master plan will be established within the year to determine project timelines.
If attracting private developers for the T2 site proves challenging, GH will lead the development. Additionally, the K-Culture Valley will be designated as an economic free zone to attract investment, and real estate worth 600 billion KRW will be contributed as capital to firm up GH’s financial foundation.
The K-Culture Valley project is located in Janghang-dong, Goyang, and aims to create a specialized K-Pop arena, studios, theme parks, and commercial, hospitality, and tourism facilities over an area of about 300,000㎡. Since CJ LiveCity, as the initial project executor, showed lack of progress, Gyeonggi Province terminated the 2016 basic agreement in June last year and is now seeking new directions for development. CJ LiveCity remains cooperative, returning commercial land and donating arena structure, and can participate in the new bidding process for T2 development.