[BizHanKook] The Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) has once again failed in its second attempt to conduct a bulk sale of the first-floor retail space in the Garden Five Tool building, located in Songpa-gu. SH had hoped that selling the first-floor shops in bulk would help resolve long-term vacancies in the Tool building. However, with two consecutive failed bids, attention is turning to whether there will be a shift in future sales strategies. SH noted, however, that since the price is based on an appraisal, it is difficult to arbitrarily lower it, and that relaxing industry restrictions is not a matter they can decide on their own.
According to Onbid, the electronic asset disposal system of the Korea Asset Management Corporation, on the 9th, the bid for the bulk sale of 127 retail units on the first floor of the Garden Five Tool building in Songpa-gu, Seoul, failed on October 12. This marks the second failed attempt.
The property up for sale consists of 127 units, including unit 01-S02 in the Garden Five Tool building at 10 Chungmin-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It covers a dedicated area of 3,603.61㎡ and a contract area of 13,607.92㎡. The expected price, including value-added tax, is 34.91355 billion KRW. This price is based on an appraisal conducted by Pacific Appraisal Co., Ltd. as of February 25, 2026.
SH issued a bulk sale notice on July 6 of this year and opened the bidding on the 30th of the same month, but it failed to attract a buyer. Subsequently, a re-notice was issued on September 14 for a second attempt, but no buyer was found during the opening of bids on the 12th of last month.
The Garden Five Tool building is considered to have relatively good transportation accessibility and surrounding development conditions. It is directly connected underground to Exit 4 of Jangji Station on Subway Line 8, and provides convenient access to the Capital Region First Ring Expressway, Bundang-Suseo Road, and the Gyeongbu and Jungbu Expressways. The nearby area features Suseo SRT Station, Wirye New Town, the Munjeong-dong Legal Town, the Jangji District, Songpa Park Habio, and logistics complexes.
Nevertheless, the failure of both sale attempts seems to be hindered by the limited range of permissible business types. According to the notice, retail facilities (wholesale market) among the properties for sale are restricted to industries related to industrial materials, such as mechanical tools, machine parts, electrical and electronic goods, machine tools, and other industrial supplies. In effect, even if a buyer invests over 34.9 billion KRW, the types of businesses they can operate are limited. Furthermore, recent loan regulations and the requirement to purchase all 127 stores at once appear to have acted as a burden.
SH also cited loan regulations, the bulk sale method, and industry restrictions as the causes for the failed bids. An SH official stated, "With current difficulties in obtaining loans and the burden caused by the bulk sale method, it seems challenging. The fact that the Tool building restricts businesses to only industrial material retailers also appears to be a cause for the failed bids."
It has been confirmed that there were cases in the past where companies wished to move into the Tool building but could not do so due to the industry restrictions. An SH official explained, "Although no one expressed an interest or made inquiries during the first and second bulk sale notices, there were places in the past that wanted to move in. There were cases where they could not enter because the industry restrictions acted as a hurdle."
Changing the business type is not impossible. However, SH cannot decide this on its own. An SH official said, "Designating business types is not something SH can do at will. It is possible if the management body and the management corporation relax the conditions." SH’s sale notice also specifies that the designated business types must be followed, and any changes must go through procedures in accordance with relevant laws and the Garden Five Tool building’s management bylaws.
Currently, the relaxation of industry restrictions has not been specifically reviewed. An SH official explained, "If a specific company says they want to move in, we could discuss whether we can lift the restrictions, but since that is not the case, it is difficult for SH to say we will lift the restrictions on our own."
There are also constraints on lowering the sale price. The SH official added, "Since the price is determined based on appraisals by evaluators, it is difficult to adjust it arbitrarily."
SH has been expecting that the sale of the first floor of the Garden Five Tool building would help alleviate long-standing vacancy issues. Another SH official stated in a phone call with Bizhankook last June, "We believe that if the first floor of the Tool building is sold in bulk, it will also help resolve vacancies on the second and third floors."
However, with the second sale attempt also failing, such expectations have become difficult to realize for the time being. As SH has expected the first-floor retail sale to help resolve the long-term vacancies of the entire Garden Five Tool building, attention is focused on whether there will be changes to the sales method or industry restrictions in the future.
SH plans to re-issue the sale notice for the first-floor retail space of the Tool building. However, a specific timeline has not yet been determined.