From Left: Joseph Panepinto Sr., CEO and president of Panepinto Properties; Yoo, Jeong-bok, mayor of Incheon City, South Korea; and Joseph Panepinto Jr. of Panepinto Global Partners sign a memorandum of understanding for Panepinto Global Partners to execute the Incheon Free Economic Zone-GangHwa Medi-City in the Southern Ganghwa area of South Korea. — Courtesy: Panepinto Global Partners
By Joshua Burd
Panepinto Properties is taking its experience in waterfront development all the way to South Korea, where it has been tapped to help oversee a $2.1 billion project outside the nation’s capital.
The Jersey City-based firm and an affiliate, Panepinto Global Partners, said this week that they’ve signed a memorandum of understanding with Incheon City to plan and redevelop some 2,235 acres. Known as the GangHwa Medi-City, the project is part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone and is slated to include residential, commercial, hospitality and health care space, plus a golf course with recreational facilities and industrial properties.
Incheon City is a transportation hub outside Seoul and is part of a metropolitan area with 23 million people, which represents 48 percent of the national population.
The city’s mayor, Yoo, Jeong-bok, recently visited the United States to sign the agreement with Panepinto Properties and Panepinto Global Partners.
“GangHwa Medi-City will become the world’s best medical tourism complex (cluster) where the visitors come from all of Asia as well as Russia,” Jeong-bok said. “GangHwa Medi-City will improve current medical treatment standards and also contribute to the local economic growth through tourism business.”
Also signing the MOU was Joseph Panepinto Sr., CEO and president of Panepinto Properties. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop attended the signing ceremony.
“We look forward to bringing our expertise in developing coastal cities to this exciting waterfront live-work-play environment,” said Panepinto, a longtime developer in Jersey City whose firm is now in its 40th year in business.
Panepinto, through an affiliate known as GangHwa City Global Partners Co. Ltd., or GCG, will oversee the acquisition, master planning, land sale and development of GangHwa Medi-City. GCG will be the Korean entity acting as project sponsor.
Incheon City has experienced considerable growth since the opening of the Incheon Harbor and Incheon Subway in October 1999, followed by the Incheon International Airport in March 2001, according to a news release. Since then, the city expanded with landfills, construction of various industrial and logistics complexes, development of tourism and leisure complexes and new residential areas, as well as upgraded educational and cultural facilities.
The new project includes the construction of a bridge between Ganghwa and the island of Yeongjong, the news release said.
“The development of GangHwa Medi-City will be the fourth free economic zone created in Incheon, taking advantage of the current expansion of the Seoul-Incheon International Airport, doubling its capacity and thrusting the local economy into a global arena,” said Joseph Panepinto Jr. of Panepinto Global Partners.
Panepinto said it has been involved in previous major projects in South Korea since 2008, including Bucheon City Living in the Seoul metro area and the Songdo Global Campus Prugio, in conjunction with Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. The Prugio residential complex is a core development within the Songdo Global University Campus, providing necessary housing for Koreans and foreigners alike, and will be situated within the same district.
The project encompasses 1,703 condominium units, 603 “officetel” live and work condominiums units and 244,093 square feet of retail space.