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Songdo Finishes $250M Phase I

SONGDO, SOUTH KOREA-The gargantuan $35-billion project is reaching its first milestone and is breaking ground with green technology.

By Ryan Clark | Updated on August 05, 2009

SONGDO, SOUTH KOREA-The leviathan $35-billion Songdo International Business District, here, being developed by Gale International and the Korean government is marking the end of its first phase with the christening of Central Park. With all of the projects anticipated to be at least under construction by 2014, the commencement of the park is marking the beginnings or completion of roughly 25% of the development. This boasts about 60 of the eventual 250 buildings, which are underway, explains John Hynes III to GlobeSt.com

Gale International has taken the lion’s share of the projects, which currently number 20. Three of the 20 projects are being done by independent developers, with each of the 20 having its own separate financing, encompassing about $10-billion worth of activity. “The overriding financial piece is the money that we borrowed to buy the land from the government,” Hynes, president of Gale International explains. “That’s a $2.5-billion land-loan, which is secured and is being repaid as we build.”

The Herculian-project designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox will eventually dominate 100 million square feet, roughly the size of downtown Boston, Hynes points out. Having started eight years ago, the long arc of the timeline includes luring foreign funding, as well as creating a modern, sustainable city.

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