JYP scraps Godeok headquarters plan, leaving W75.5b land in limbo

JYP Entertainment has abandoned plans to build a new headquarters in Godeok-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul — three years after winning a land bid for 75.5 billion won ($56.4 million) and six months after receiving a building permit. On the same day it announced the withdrawal, the company disclosed it would acquire two properties near its current Seongnae-dong headquarters for 96 billion won.

JYP said in a statement Thursday that it had held multiple consultations with the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation and the Gangdong-gu district office since April, when it first learned of a planned land-use change on a plot adjacent to the new headquarters site, and had explored every possible avenue to keep the project alive. "We have ultimately decided to withdraw from the Godeok headquarters construction project," the company said.

The company said it received an official response from the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) on Aug. 31 stating that the land-use change procedure for the adjacent plot had followed proper process and that restoring it to parkland was not possible. "We reached the final conclusion that it is no longer feasible to proceed with the project," JYP said.

The dispute centers on a 13,261-square-meter plot separated from the JYP site by a single road. When JYP won the bid for a 10,675-square-meter retail and commercial lot in the Godeok Gangil district from SH in October 2023, the adjacent land was zoned as a neighborhood park. SH applied the following December to rezone it as a self-sufficient facility site, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approved the change on Oct. 24 last year. The rezoning allows buildings of 18 to 19 stories under a floor-area ratio of 400 percent.

JYP's planned headquarters was designed with a total floor area of 69,259 square meters across five basement levels and 17 above-ground floors. Architect Yoo Hyun-joon, a professor at Hongik University who led the design, chose a ring-shaped structure enclosing a central courtyard and opening toward a park to the south. JYP consistently argued that a high-rise building 20 meters away would expose the interior of the headquarters, making it impossible to protect artists' privacy and security. The company proposed compromises — capping the height of adjacent buildings at six stories or adjusting the park's location — but those proposals were not accepted.

A central point of contention is when JYP first learned of the rezoning. The company has maintained that April of this year was the moment it first became aware. In June, it also stated that it had purchased the land in good faith based on the land-use conditions disclosed at the time of the pre-sale.

Seoul city offered a different account. In an explanatory release Tuesday, the city said the Sept. 4, 2023, pre-sale announcement had explicitly noted that surrounding land-use plans were subject to change. Given that six months elapsed between the rezoning approval (Oct. 24, 2025) and the building permit (April 15, 2026), the city said it was inappropriate for JYP to suggest it had been misled by SH. Gangdong-gu also said SH had been reviewing the change before April 2023, prior to signing the contract with JYP. That said, the land was still zoned as parkland at the time of the contract, and both the rezoning application and its approval came after the deal was signed.

The two sides also clashed over the rationale for the rezoning. SH said the change was necessary under the School Site Act to sell 1 percent of the district's green space and raise funds for school facility construction. Seoul city pointed to the Godeok Gangil district's park and green space ratio of 28.4 percent, which exceeds the statutory minimum of 20 percent. Professor Yoo said on his YouTube channel on Sept. 29 that selling off parkland meant for future generations to raise funds was no different from proposing to build housing in Yongsan Park. Seoul city rebuffed the comparison, saying the two projects rest on different legal grounds and that the parks in question hold different legal statuses.

Meanwhile, the disputed plot has found no buyers. SH listed it for 103.97 billion won, but the offering drew no applicants and failed in May.

Unresolved questions loom over what comes next. JYP paid the full land price in 2024 but disclosed in June that it was pushing back the planned ownership transfer registration by one year. The land was acquired through a consortium with Bando Construction and TKG Development, with each party set to develop its own subdivided lot — meaning JYP's exit could have significant implications for the other consortium members.

Community opposition also remains. A residents' coalition representing the heads of homeowner associations from 14 nearby apartment complexes has been collecting signatures since Sept. 17 demanding the land be returned to parkland.

JYP has now turned its attention back to Seongnae-dong. The company disclosed Thursday that it would acquire land and buildings at 448-11 and 448-26 Seongnae-dong for a combined 96 billion won — equivalent to 11.28 percent of its total assets as of last year. The ownership transfer is scheduled for Feb. 26 next year. While the company's statement described the acquisition as a purchase of "nearby buildings," the regulatory filing lists the purpose as "construction of a new headquarters."

"Since relocating to Gangdong-gu in June 2018, our company has continued to grow, and we will work closely with the local government with our Seongnae-dong headquarters at the center," JYP said.