Bundang's 'The Sibeom' reconstruction kicks off architect selection

The integrated reconstruction project for The Sibeom, a pilot redevelopment district in Bundang new town, has moved into full development mode after posting a tender notice to select an architect.

Korea Asset Trust — designated as the project operator for The Sibeom — published the tender notice Thursday through the Public Procurement Service's online marketplace. Seongnam city had earlier designated and officially notified Korea Asset Trust as the project operator for the combined reconstruction of Bundang's aging planned-city Zone 23 (Sibeom Complex 2) and Zone S6 (Jangan Town 4) in June.

Under the tender notice, the reconstruction project will follow procedures modeled on Gangnam-area reconstruction projects governed by Seoul Metropolitan Government regulations, in order to maximize transparency and expertise. The plan calls for first narrowing the field to the top four firms through a quantitative eligibility review, then collecting detailed design proposals from those firms before selecting a winner through a vote of all property owners.

Industry experts say the most notable aspect of the tender notice is the generous time allotted for proposal preparation. Given that the project site covers nearly 300,000 square meters, the schedule is designed to give major design firms enough time to prepare polished, high-quality proposals.

The redevelopment industry has recently seen a string of problems stemming from poor design quality, overshadowed by a rush to select contractors early. When proposal preparation periods are compressed unreasonably and the process is abbreviated, design drawings end up incomplete, making sweeping revisions inevitable during the permitting process — delays and added costs that fall squarely on the project.

Substandard design drawings can also come back to haunt projects at the contractor bidding stage, triggering runaway construction cost overruns. Selecting a contractor based on imprecise drawings, only to face large-scale design changes before or after ground-breaking, has fueled disputes between associations and contractors at a growing number of sites.

Once the integrated reconstruction of The Sibeom is complete, the area is expected to be reborn as a massive complex of more than 6,000 units with a premium residential environment. In effect the first project to supply new housing in Bundang through the aging planned-city renewal program, it is expected to contribute significantly to stabilizing the Greater Seoul real estate market.

"While many reconstruction sites have recently been mired in litigation over reckless speed competitions or turf battles, The Sibeom has an exemplary structure with no internal conflicts or disputes within the complex," one industry official said. "The trust-based redevelopment expertise on display here — working through the design, the foundation of the permitting process, by the book rather than cutting corners — is impressive."

The Sibeom reconstruction project is set to hold its first general assembly meeting around October, following the launch of the architect selection process.