Step west from Seoul Station, the capital's main gateway, and the skyline of office towers gives way to something else entirely. Aging homes crowd steep hillsides, and alleys barely wide enough for a single car still wind through the neighborhood. Fire trucks cannot get in. Despite sitting directly next to Seoul Station, the Seogye and Cheongpa neighborhoods of Yongsan District were passed over by development for decades. Now several redevelopment projects are moving forward at once, setting the area up to become a new residential district of more than 6,500 homes across five of the six zones.
The Cheongpa 1 redevelopment association filed for integrated review with the Seoul city government on the 11th, according to redevelopment industry sources on the 13th. Cheongpa 1, which won association approval in February 2023, selected Daewoo Engineering & Construction as its builder last year and signed a 355.6 billion won ($256 million) main construction contract in August. The complex will consist of seven buildings of up to 25 floors above ground and six below, with 697 units. The proposed name is Louis Lease Summit, using Daewoo E&C's high-end Summit brand.
With Cheongpa 1 and other projects across Seogye and Cheongpa moving into the association and permitting stages, the residential map west of Seoul Station is about to be redrawn. According to the city, six private redevelopment projects are underway in the area, including fast-track redevelopment plans and Moa Town projects. Excluding Cheongpa 3, whose unit count has not been finalized, the other five will supply about 6,500 new homes. They include the Seogye consolidated zone with 2,691 units, Cheongpa 2 with 1,905 units, Cheongpa 1, the Seoul Station area redevelopment and the Moa Town project at 116 Seogye-dong. If Cheongpa 3 also secures a final plan, the area is expected to be reshaped into a large new residential district of roughly 8,000 homes.
The largest project is the Seogye consolidated zone around 33 Seogye-dong. The plan calls for 2,691 apartment units in buildings of up to 39 floors on a site of more than 110,000 square meters, and it received association approval in July. It is one of the closest residential areas to Seoul Station, yet 87% of its homes are aging and the elevation gap within the zone reaches 40 meters, making it a classic hillside district. Cut off from the east side of Seoul Station by the elevated Gyeongbu rail line and hemmed in by narrow, disconnected roads, it has long been seen as having living conditions far below what its location would suggest.
Long hampered by weak project economics, the Seogye consolidated zone became the first beneficiary of Seoul's eased rules. In 2024, the city applied its "recognition of existing floor-area ratio" system there for the first time. The baseline floor-area ratio for Class 1 general residential land, which covers about half the zone, was raised to 190% from 150%, and the average baseline ratio for the entire zone rose about 27%. As a result, the city estimated that 58 more units would be available for sale than under the earlier draft plan, and that the estimated cost per association member would fall by an average of about 32 million won.
Cheongpa 2, between Seoul Station and Namyeong Station, is close behind. The project covers about 82,000 square meters around 89-18 Cheongpa-dong 1-ga, with plans for 20 buildings of up to 25 floors above ground and two below, holding 1,905 units. Selected in 2021 as a first-round candidate for the fast-track program, it was designated a redevelopment zone in October 2024 and completed association approval in June. It won approval just 12 days after applying, having chosen a publicly supported direct-establishment method that skips the preparatory committee stage.
As the projects gather pace, prices for aging low-rise multi-unit homes are rising on redevelopment expectations. In the Seogye consolidated zone, a villa (a low-rise multi-unit home, distinct from a luxury villa) with 39 square meters of land share and 43 square meters of floor space is listed at 1.4 billion won. That works out to about 120 million won per 3.3 square meters of land share. In Cheongpa 2, a villa with a 26-square-meter land share is asking 790 million won, while in Cheongpa 1 a low-rise multi-unit home with a 64-square-meter share is listed at 1.55 billion won and another with a 79-square-meter share at 1.95 billion won. An official at a Seogye-dong brokerage said properties outside redevelopment zones go for about 80 million won per 3.3 square meters, meaning homes inside the zones cost roughly 40% more even in adjacent blocks. "Even with similar age and location, prices run more than 100 million won higher when there is an expectation of getting the right to move into a new apartment," the official said.
The area's biggest advantage is Seoul Station itself. Residents can use subway lines 1 and 4, the Gyeongui-Jungang Line, the Airport Railroad and the GTX-A line, and downtown business districts such as Gwanghwamun are close by. But the low-rise housing that took shape as migrants settled in Seoul during the industrialization of the 1960s has remained largely untouched, leaving the neighborhood unable to benefit from development around the station. The city aims to redevelop Seogye and Cheongpa through the fast-track and Moa Town programs and turn the area into the leading residential district west of Seoul Station.
Living conditions are set to change well beyond the construction of new apartment complexes. The Seogye consolidated zone plan includes an east-west green and pedestrian corridor linking Cheongpa-ro and Mallijae-ro, and a north-south pedestrian route running from Seoullo 7017 to Hyochang Park. To overcome elevation differences of up to 40 meters, elevators, ramps and other multilevel walkways will be installed, along with parks, libraries, public dormitories and other community facilities. An industry official said expectations are high that as the aging low-rise district west of Seoul Station, long cut off by narrow alleys and hills, turns into a large apartment neighborhood, an urban living zone will take shape in which offices, retail and housing come together around Seoul Station.
