Amid differences between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government over plans to supply housing on the Yongsan Park site, the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center area in Gangnam-gu has emerged as an alternative location.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon held a briefing at Seoul City Hall today (the 26th) after meeting with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoon-duk in the morning, stating, "I explained the tentative 'Southeast Region Youth-Specialized Industrial Complex Plan' in detail and made a formal proposal today."

The plan, which Mayor Oh directly mentioned at the National Assembly yesterday, involves relocating the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, and combining it with the nearby Eastern Road Maintenance Office and Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention (SETEC) sites for the mixed development of youth housing and industrial complexes.

The Tancheon Water Reclamation Center spans approximately 393,000 square meters, which is about 90,000 square meters larger than the Yongsan Children's Garden site of approximately 300,000 square meters that the government has been reviewing for housing supply potential.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government believes that if about half of this site is allocated for residential functions, it will be possible to supply between a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 13,000 housing units.

While previously discussed alternative sites for Yongsan Park, such as the Gyeongridan site or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs parking lot site, were criticized for being too small to provide meaningful housing supply, the Tancheon site can accommodate a large-scale supply of up to 13,000 units.

The site is located close to Daecheong Station, Suseo Station, and the Suseo Interchange, and is also adjacent to living infrastructure such as Tancheon Stream, Daemosan Mountain, and Samsung Medical Center, generating high market demand.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is already pursuing relocation plans for this site.

Having completed the master plan establishment service for the confluence area of Yangjaecheon Stream and Tancheon Stream in 2024, it is currently conducting a private investment eligibility study to relocate the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center.

The goal is to complete the eligibility study by the end of this year.

Mayor Oh also presented a specific financing plan.

He explained that selling the city-owned Eastern Road Maintenance Office site (worth approximately 3.3 trillion won) and the SETEC site (worth approximately 2.3 trillion won) could secure about 5.5 trillion won in financing, and by injecting 500 billion won as seed money from sources including the city, it would be possible to attract private investment to carry out the project.

The government is also reported to have initially shown a positive response to this proposal.

Mayor Oh stated, "I discussed this plan in depth today," adding, "Minister Kim Yoon-duk told me he would review it."

Mayor Oh continued, "We plan to meet with Minister Kim again in about a week to make further progress on discussions," drawing attention to whether the government and Seoul city will reach an agreement on the development plan for the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center over the coming week.

Following the disclosure of Mayor Oh's plan yesterday, some members of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out that since relocating and developing the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center takes a considerable amount of time, it is difficult to view it as an alternative housing supply within the current administration's term.

In response, Mayor Oh dismissed the criticism, asking, "I would like to ask if building on Yongsan Park would allow construction to start within the current government term," and calling it "criticism for the sake of criticism that is out of touch with timing."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that while relocating the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center and constructing housing will each take time, government reviews and administrative procedures can be expedited to shorten the project period.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "There are several other matters I requested of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport besides this," adding, "It seems positive review will be possible for those as well. I expect that the issues discussed together can also make progress collectively."

(Photo: Yonhap News)