JLL, Savills to lead Seoul Square sale in $1 bn deal

JLL and Savills have been tapped to lead the sale of Seoul Square, a landmark office tower, valued at around 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion), adding to a growing pipeline of prime assets hitting the market in Seoul's central business district (CBD).

Singapore-based ARA Asset Management and South Korea’s NH Investment & Securities Co., which co-own the property, have put the building up for sale as their real estate fund is approaching its maturity in February 2026.

They will send teaser letters to potential buyers early next month, aiming to close the transaction by the end of the year, according to office property industry sources on Thursday.

In 2019, ARA Asset and NH Investment jointly acquired the building for 988.2 billion won, or about 24.6 million won per 3.3 square meters.

With prime offices in Seoul’s CBD now trading at around 35 million won per 3.3 square meters, the 132,800-square-meter property is valued at 1.41 trillion won.

Built in 1970, the 23-story tower with two basement levels once served as the headquarters of the now-defunct Daewoo Group. After undergoing a full-scale renovation in 2020, it was renamed Seoul Square.

The tower sits directly across from Seoul Station, offering direct connectivity to subway Lines 1 and 4, the airport railroad and the bullet train KTX.

The area is undergoing significant redevelopment, including the transformation of the Seoul Station complex and the redevelopment of the former Millennium Hilton Seoul site.

As of April, the building’s occupancy rate stood at 81.8%, down from around 96% a year earlier, after e-commerce platform 11Street vacated five floors last September due to financial difficulties. The company had occupied the space since 2017 before relocating to Gwangmyeong, just outside Seoul.

Key tenants include SK Shipping Co., Kyobo Life Insurance Co., Mercedes-Benz and ExxonMobil.

Write to Gyeong-Jin Min at min@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.