The city of Guri in Gyeonggi Province will review from scratch how to develop an e-commerce logistics complex in Sano-dong, a project it has pursued for six years. The move follows two failed preliminary feasibility studies and an assessment from the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), the project operator, that reviving the plan would be difficult
Guri Mayor Shin Dong-hwa explained the status of the project at a monthly staff meeting the previous day and said the city would seek a development plan reflecting changed conditions, the city said on the 2nd. The focus is on maintaining the direction of expanding Sano-dong’s self-sufficiency functions and nurturing future industries.
The project gained momentum in 2020 when the government announced its “Korean-style New Deal smart logistics system” initiative. The plan called for building logistics facilities and a techno valley on a roughly 960,000-square-meter site in the Sano-dong area, and linking the development to the relocation of the Guri Agricultural and Marine Products Wholesale Market to create a new growth hub.
The project failed to secure feasibility in its first preliminary study in 2022. The city revised its plan and reapplied for a study in 2024, but LH notified it in January this year that the second study had also found insufficient feasibility.
Last month, LH delivered an assessment to the city that amounted to effectively halting the project. Along with the results of the two studies, LH cited the cost-benefit ratio of the logistics facilities, rising project costs stemming from nearby development projects, and prolonged vacancies at knowledge industry centers in the area. LH judged that securing feasibility would remain difficult even if another preliminary study were pursued.
Based on LH’s review, the city will reassess whether the existing development approach is viable. It will, however, keep its basic direction of developing Sano-dong as a growth hub for expanded self-sufficiency functions and future industries.
Specific alternatives will be drawn up in consultation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, LH and other agencies. The city plans to comprehensively review the site and surrounding development conditions and to look for ways to tie in local priorities such as attracting companies, creating jobs and relocating the Guri Agricultural and Marine Products Wholesale Market.
“We take the results of the two preliminary feasibility studies and LH’s judgment seriously, but we should not limit our view to whether to continue the existing project,” Shin said. “Building on what we have achieved so far, we will carefully determine what to carry forward and what to change, and find workable solutions that establish Sano-dong as a new growth axis for Guri.”
#Guri#Logistics#Ecommerce#LH#Gyeonggi#UrbanDevelopment
Original reporting by Lee Kyung-hwan for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreign sources are based on Korean-language reports and may not reflect exact original wording.
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