Hyundai Department Store plans mega mall in Gwangju
Hyundai Department Store is preparing to open a mega shopping mall in Gwangju, which will be the first in the city if the plan goes through.
The company announced Wednesday it is in talks with Humans Holdings, a real estate development company, to build a mega mall in Gwangju.
Mega shopping malls are big, of course, with retail stores but also restaurants, theaters and sometimes hotels. Coex and Shinsegae's Starfield Mall are some examples.
Hyundai Department Store plans to build a mega mall on a 310,000-square-meter (3.3-million-square-feet) plot of land in Buk District, Gwangju. The lot was previously used as a textile factory, and was purchased by Humans Holdings in 2020 for 685 billion won ($525.5 million) after the factory closed.
The mall has been given the tentative name The Hyundai Gwangju, following The Hyundai Seoul, Hyundai Department Store’s shopping complex in Yeouido, western Seoul.
Hyundai Department Store says The Hyundai Gwangju will have venues for shopping and entertainment.
Humans Holdings will submit a development plan to the city in the next few weeks.
If the complex is built, it will be the first in Gwangju.
President Yoon Suk-yeol had also pledged to support a mega mall in the city during his election campaign in February. Hyundai Department Store said it has been thinking of a mega mall in Gwangju for several years.
In 2015, Shinsegae signed a memorandum of understanding with the city to build a hotel and shopping mall complex, which was supposed to be Gwangju's first mega mall. The plan was scrapped due to protests by small merchants and civic groups.
BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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