NPS closes $1.6 bn Korean office deal; scientists pension eyes NCSOFT building

The National Pension Service (NPS) has completed the purchase of One Grove for 2.3 trillion won ($1.6 billion), its largest single real estate investment in South Korea, according to industry sources on Thursday.

The world’s third-largest pension scheme poured 820 billion won into the complex as the equity investor while financing the remainder with debts syndicated to banks and insurance companies. Shinhan Bank provided about 1 trillion won in loans as the lead lender.

One Grove in western Seoul is a new landmark complex in Magok, one of four business districts in the South Korean capital.

It is comprised of office space, a hotel and a shopping arcade, covering a gross floor area of 463,098 square meters. It almost matches the size of the Brookfield-owned International Finance Center (IFC) in Yeouido, with a gross floor area of 506,205 square meters.

The deal closing followed the completion of the complex in September. Its construction had been delayed after Taeyoung Engineering & Construction Co. (Taeyoung E&C), the project's developer and builder, entered a debt workout program in 2024 amid the downturn in the domestic real estate market.

The lenders to One Grove ponied up an additional 3.7 trillion won to complete the construction.

Its occupancy will reach 40% after DL E&C Co., an engineering company, is moving its offices there from Gwanghwamoon, another business district in Seoul, said the sources.

The real estate deal came as the South Korean pension fund earmarked 2 trillion won to invest in Korean properties this year, its largest-ever allocation to the domestic real estate market for a single year.

The closure of the One Grove deal has significantly eased Taeyoung E&C’s debt load and raised expectations that the builder will soon exit its debt rescheduling program.

It had guaranteed the payment of 1.59 trillion won in loans to One Grove – its largest debt exposure to a construction project.

NC TOWER

Meanwhile, a consortium of the Korea Scientists and Engineers Mutual-Aid Association (SEMA) and Pacific Asset Management Co. was selected as the preferred buyer of NC Tower, owned by game developer NCSOFT Corp.

The consortium, led by the pension for scientists and engineers, is said to have offered 47 million won per 3.3 square meters for a total in the mid-400-billion-won range.

The sale, if finalized, will mark the largest office deal in Gangnam business district in terms of pyeong, or 3.3 square meters, following the sale of The Asset for 45 million won per pyeong. Pyeong refers to the base unit used to measure property area in South Korea.

Koramco Asset Management Co. sold The Asset – Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co.'s headquarters – to Samsung SRA Asset Management Co. for 1.1 trillion won.

The 15-story NC Tower with seven underground floors is a mid-sized office building with a gross floor area of 30,913 square meters.

SEMA is expected to use the office building as its headquarters.

Write to Han-Jong Choi and Kyung-Jin Min at onebell@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.