In the Pyeongtaek Brain City industrial complex, over 30% of the phase 1 industrial land remains unsold. Brain City, which is being developed into the largest industrial complex in Gyeonggi Province, is set to complete its industrial complex by the end of this year; however, there is still a lot of unsold land as tenant corporations have not yet been recruited. This raises the possibility of the industrial complex becoming a ghost town even if the infrastructure is fully developed. Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation, the developer, has decided to offer brokerage incentives (commissions) to real estate agents nationwide to resolve the unsold industrial land issue.

Pyeongtaek Brain City Bird's Eye View

According to the real estate industry, Pyeongtaek City, and Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation on the 26th, Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation, the developer of phase 1 of Brain City, has decided to provide a brokerage incentive of 0.9% of the sale amount to real estate agents who mediate the sale of industrial land within the Brain City industrial complex. If the sale amount is 300 million won, it amounts to 2.7 million won.

Brain City is a large-scale residential district incorporating an advanced industrial complex, research and development-focused universities, residential areas, and commercial facilities over an area of approximately 4.82 million square meters (about 1.45 million pyeong) in the Doil-dong and Jang-an-dong areas of Pyeongtaek. It is planned to be established as the largest industrial complex not only in Pyeongtaek but also in the entire Gyeonggi region. The industrial complex is being developed in two phases; phase 1 is handled by Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation, while phase 2 is managed by Brain City PFV.

Pyeongtaek Urban Corporation plans to provide incentives to real estate agents who mediate the sale of unsold plots until December 31 of this year. According to the Real Estate Agent Act, any registered real estate agent operating nationwide can receive incentives. Phase 1 industrial land covers 1,027,798 square meters, of which over 30%, or 319,292 square meters (31.6%), has not yet found tenant corporations. Despite conducting seven public bids from January to early this year, no corporations have expressed interest in moving in.

An industry official noted, "Brokerage incentives are usually used as a means to promote sales in special situations such as a bad real estate market or financial crisis." They added, "It is often the case that developers, facing urgency due to a lack of sales, have no choice but to provide such incentives."

The Brain City industrial complex is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. This means that infrastructure facilities, including electricity, will be completely set up by this time. Therefore, if the industrial complex is completed without finding tenant corporations within this year, it may become a ghost town.

It has been reported that the phase 2 industrial land in Brain City, which has a high proportion of residential facilities like apartments, is also significantly unsold. The phase 2 industrial land covers 527,560 square meters. A representative from the developer stated, "Currently, about half has been sold."

Graphic=Jeong Seohee, Son Mingyun

Meanwhile, the apartments supplied as residential facilities in Brain City are also continuing to remain unsold. The 'Brain City Anneiture Future' project, which was sold on May 26, offered a total of 1,396 dwellings, but the subscription was limited to only 96 cases. According to housing statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in March, out of 13,527 unsold dwellings in Gyeonggi Province, 5,281 dwellings (39.04%) are located in Pyeongtaek. The industry believes that over half of Pyeongtaek's unsold dwellings have occurred in Brain City.

Ko Jun-seok, a professor at Yonsei University's Sangnam Institute of Management, stated, "While efforts are being made to extend the metropolitan rapid transit line (GTX) A and C lines to the Pyeongtaek Jije area, the projects are delayed, and the nearby Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus is not operating properly, leading to a lower preference for Brain City among subcontractors of Samsung Electronics."