IFC Seoul

IFC Seoul, Building Confidence in Successful Pre-leasing
IFC Seoul is targeting to lease ONE IFC 100% before the opening
 

[April 19th 2011] ONE IFC has achieved more than 60% of pre-leasing and has attained to an international level as it is confident to reach 100% of office occupancy according to AIG Korea Real Estate Development, the developer of IFC Seoul on 19th. With this, IFC Seoul becomes a sole multipurpose landmark office building in South Korea currently having global financial firms and multinational companies as only tenants.

32-story ONE IFC which is scheduled to start move-in in October is the first office building of Seoul International Finance Center (IFC Seoul) and its major global tenants include Deloitte, ING Real Estate Asset Management and Japan’s Daiwa Securities. The fact ONE IFC has successfully attracted foreign finance firms, industry experts say, proves the leasing and marketing activity of IFC Seoul is on a strategic and international level.

It is rare to see major cities emerging as international finance hubs achieve 100% pre-leasing. Ocean Finance Center in Singapore and Hong Kong International Commerce Center (ICC) are a couple of successful examples. In case of Marina Bay Financial Center (MBFC) in Singapore, the total pre-lease rate of first and second office buildings built in 2010 was about 79%. MBFC will be Singapore’s first mixed-use landmark building when completed in 2012.  

James Tyrrell, Vice President of IFC Seoul, said “Large real estate development projects started in competition in South Korea before the global financial crisis in 2008 relied on highly-leveraged risky financing not considering profitability and vision. Therefore they are accordingly failed or have materially impacted by the global financial crisis. On the other hand, IFC Seoul has had a strong and sound capital structure to execute strategic pre-lease marketing activities. We expect to reach more than 80% of occupancy by end of May and it is worth targeting to lease 100% before opening. IFC Seoul has a full potential to be an international finance hub of North East Asia just like Singapore and Hong Kong.”

IFC Seoul is a joint project between AIG KRED and the Seoul Metropolitan Government to create Yeouido as an international finance hub and develop Seoul as the financial hub of North East Asia. IFC Seoul consisted of three premium office towers, a 5 star hotel and a luxury multipurpose shopping mall bears landmark characters such as globalized office environment, high-end facilities, various cultural and environment friendly spaces. IFC Seoul is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2012.