Bukhansan ‘seven-year abomination’, a luxury resort… Rusty rebar as it is, ‘safety’ cutting board

The Bukhansan Jarak Resort in Seoul, which had been neglected for nearly 10 years, was recently completed as a resort by a construction company in Busan.

According to the construction industry on the 6th, Samjung Enterprises, a local company in Busan, opened the luxury resort ‘Parapara Seoul’ in the area of ​​Bukhansan National Park in Ui-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul at the end of August.

The resort project is a development project started by The Pine Tree in 2009 when Oh Se-hoon was Mayor of Seoul. The developer planned to build a condo with a total floor area of ​​100,000 square meters, including 332 rooms, a convention hall, a swimming pool, and an exhibition room, on a site of 80,000 square meters in Ui-dong, the foothills of Bukhansan. The estimated cost of the project alone was 630 billion won, and the industry’s interest was as great as the size at the time.

However, there were setbacks in the implementation of the project in 2011. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Gangbuk-gu are embroiled in controversy over the ease of height restrictions and the establishment of an access road, which had to cut mountains, in the process of permitting and permitting. It was also pointed out that a ‘luxury condo’ would be built at the foot of the National Gong Warner.

As a result, the construction was stopped in December 2012 at a 46% completion rate. The developer who failed to sell the lot went bankrupt, and Ssangyong E&C, the construction company, was in financial trouble due to poor project financing (PF) related to this project, and eventually went into court management.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government went through its own audit and concluded that there were no privileges related to licensing or permits for this project. Instead of resuming construction, Ssangyong E&C attempted to sell the business several times to find a new owner. In 2015, E-Land decided to purchase it for 160 billion won and even signed a contract, but it was ultimately canceled as E-Land did not pay the balance. After that, the operator did not appear for a while. Many problems, such as permits and permits, were intertwined like a thread, so even construction companies with good financial conditions could not easily rush in.

After 7 years of neglect, this business site was abandoned by Samjong Enterprises in 2018 and signed a land sales contract (about 140 billion won) with Korea Asset Trust (consignee Ssangyong E&C). ‘, construction resumed. It also signed a consignment operation agreement with Chosun Hotels & Resorts. Sangsangbukhansan Resort, which signed this agreement, was established by Samjong Enterprises for the development project.

The resumption of resort construction did not go smoothly. It took a year and a half to change the design and get approval again. After several TF meetings and consultations, the design was revised several times. Samjong Enterprises lowered the overall height of the building so that it does not obscure the appearance of Bukhansan as much as possible. Two floors of the building that had already been built were demolished, and the shape of the building that did not start construction was partially changed. The road to the resort was made in the form of an ecological tunnel, and public contributions were also expanded. A mountain museum and a public parking lot were created to collect donations from the city. The inner promenade and rooftop garden of some buildings are open to the public, and a conference hall where various events can be held has been created.

The resort sale method has also been changed so that non-members can use it as well. Of the total 334 resort rooms, 110 rooms (33%) are not sold in the form of membership tickets, but are available to the general public by paying accommodation fees.

There are also concerns about the safety issue of ‘Para Para Seoul’. This is because the construction suspension period was long enough that it has been criticized for being an abomination that obscures the view of Mt. Bukhan. In fact, the construction of this site was resumed in 2019 after the frame had been left in the form of concrete for a long time since 2011.

In the case of apartment construction sites, even if the construction is stopped for only one to two months, the rebar going into the frame will rust and there is a high risk of poor construction.

It is pointed out that if rusty rebar is used, a water film phenomenon occurs between reinforcing bar and concrete, resulting in reduced strength due to a decrease in adsorption capacity, and the water quality may be contaminated with rust from the construction process.

An official from a construction company said, “Recently, the sensitivity to safety issues in buildings is increasing.” “In places where construction has been suspended for a long time and then resumed, it is more likely that safety diagnosis will be carried out more reliably and this information will be notified to users in the future. “It can help prevent bigger problems that may arise,” he said.

[조성신 매경닷컴 기자]
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