97,000 m2… Private businesses will be selected by establishing qualifications and through competitive bidding 

Gyeonggi Province announced on June 6 that it will be publicly receiving applications from the private sector to participate in the development of Zone 2 of Hanryu Wood (Goyang Tourism Cultural Complex) pursued by Gyeonggi Province in order to nurture the region as a center of production and consumption of Hanryu (Korean Wave) cultural contents.
Gyeonggi Province and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization publicly announced that it will receive applications from the private sector for a 96,779 square meter plot in Hanryu Wood Zone 2 from June 5, and initiated a public subscription procedure for Zone 2 in earnest.
An official of the Planning Department at Gyeonggi Province Goyang Cultural Complex said, “Zone 2 will be composed of 6 blocks, including 3 multi-complex facilities, 2 hotels, and 1 parking lot, and for integrated development of the Zone, the whole block will be provided to a single developer.”
The multi-complex facility will fulfill diverse functions such as work, sales, culture, and sports, and will meet a variety of demands at the time the Zone is vitalized.
In addition, 1,500 houses will be built, in order to respond to the increasing housing demand newly triggered by Hanryu Wood.
To accommodate tourists, a 700-room hotel will be constructed.
By 2012, Korea is expected to be welcoming 10 million visitors annually, but hotel accommodations fall extremely short of demand. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that there are no more plots of land to build hotels on in Seoul.
In light of this situation, the new hotels, which will be located in Hanryu Wood Zone 2, between Seoul and Incheon International Airport, are projected to provide a convenient and comfortable rest space for visitors to Korea.
The selection of business firms to develop Zone 2 will be based on restrictive competitive bidding, and only the consortiums that include construction firms (firms that have constructed 1,500 units or more over the past 5 years, BBB- or higher credit rating) and hotels (Special Class 2, operate more than 200 rooms) that have passed a qualification screening procedures of its business plans in advance can participate in the bid.
In particular, the Province made it mandatory for all hotels to be included in the consortium to be Special Class 2 (Five Mugungwha Class) grade or higher hotels, considering the unique and special nature of hotel management.
The official explained, “Unlike a simple price-competitive bidding scenario, we have strictly limited the qualification requirements based on housing construction record and credit ratings, and made it mandatory for companies to have their business plans screened, in order to eliminate excessive price competition among developers and to select firms with capabilities and vision, all of which is linked to faithfully achieving the original goal of Hanryu Wood.”
He added, “Also, over 30% of the floor space must be used for Hanryu cultural facilities. We have also adopted the development period system, where developers must initiate construction within 2 years of signing the contract, and must complete construction within 3 years from initiation.”
Gyeonggi Province and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization has set a sufficient public notification period of 60 days, in order to allow as many companies as possible to apply for the bid, and will confirm the company in August, sign a contract, and initiate full-fledged construction.
The section of Hanryu Wood allocated to the private sector will be composed of 19 blocks – 7 hotels, 2 theme parks, 6 UECs (Urban Entertainment Center), 4 multi-complex facilities – which will be divided into Zone 1, 2, and 3, where investment is attracted in a step-by-step manner.
Currently, Zone 1, which include the theme parks and UEC (Urban Entertainment Center) are under construction, and progress is active as the developer was selected last year.