I-Tower in Seoul Sold to U.S.

I-Tower, which located in Yeoksamdong, Seoul, is one of biggest building in Korea. This building has been sold to Lone Star Fund (LSF), an American finance investment company.

Lee Bang-Ju, the president of Hyundai Development Company (HDC), said on 19th, ``we have made a 663.2 billion won cash contract including a 49 billion dollar additional project. But, the actual price tag would be about 700 billion won because the LSF is to pay the additional traffic congestion charge.`` It is the largest deal among single real estate transactions in Korean history.

President Lee said, ``the down payment of 200 billion won will be deposited on 21st, and the rest of 400 billion won, excluding the rental profit, will be paid in full within one month``.

The HDC plans to use a half of the money to pay off their short-term debt and will save the rest half for a reserve fund.

The I-Tower, which is bigger than the 63 Building (50,200 pyung) in Yoido, began its construction in May, 1995. It has 8 underground floors and 45 stories above ground. It’s height is 206 meters and its size is 64,300 pyung.

The LSF, whose headquarter is in Dallas, Texas, is an world renowned investment company. Its asset includes 6,250 items, market value of 18 billion dollars of real estate properties.

It has been known that after transferring of the ownership, the LSF will change the name of the building to `Star Tower`.

Hwang Jae-Seong jsonhng@donga.com