JYP Faces Crisis Over 75.5 Billion Won New Headquarters Plan Due to Park Land Rezoning

JYP Entertainment's plan to build a new headquarters, for which it spent 75.5 billion won to purchase land and even obtained building permits, is at risk of being scrapped.

The issue arose when a park site located just 20 meters away had its zoning changed to allow the construction of high-rise buildings.

JYP has been pushing to build its new headquarters in the Godeok Biz Valley in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, with five basement levels, 17 above-ground floors, and a total floor area of approximately 69,000 square meters.

The company purchased the site for 75.5 billion won in 2023, went through traffic impact assessments as well as architectural and landscape reviews to secure building permits, and had been aiming to break ground in the second half of this year.

However, the controversy erupted when a park site spanning about 13,000 square meters, located just 20 meters away from the proposed new headquarters, was recently rezoned into a self-reliant support facility zone where high-rise buildings can be constructed.

Professor Yoo Hyun-joon of Hongik University, who is in charge of designing JYP's new building, designed it in a ring shape featuring a courtyard in the middle surrounded by the building.

One of the key design objectives was to block external views to protect the privacy of the agency's artists.

However, if a high-rise building is erected right next door, the purpose of this design could be compromised.

According to Professor Yoo, JYP proposed solutions to the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) in order to proceed with the project, such as applying the same floor area ratio to the site while limiting building heights to six floors or lower, or adjusting the location of the park to secure distance between the two buildings, but these proposals were not accepted.

SH's stance is that it had no choice but to change the designation of the park site because green spaces were reduced in accordance with relevant laws to secure funds for establishing school facilities, while other green spaces are tied up as preserved areas.

Ultimately, Professor Yoo stated that he was notified by JYP regarding its position on withdrawing from the project, adding that "it is leaning toward a complete scrapping."

However, JYP stated that it has not made a final decision to withdraw the construction of the new headquarters, noting that "we are reviewing various responses for the future."

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.