Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 114

On Monday, Kyung-wan was very busy leading the meeting. Even though the meeting was busy and a little messy, Kyung-wan was still working hard.

Even as he led the meeting, he thought carefully about the designs for the competition.

He listened closely to what the staff said, wondering which design would win the project.

He kept being drawn to WJ Studio’s design.

He wasn’t sure if it was because he was friends with Woo-jin or because the design was so good.

By the time the meeting was halfway over, Kyung-wan was leaning towards WJ Studio’s design.

But because he was friends with Woo-jin, Kyung-wan had to be extra careful.

He was very careful. He wanted to make sure his friendship with Woo-jin did not change his decision at all.

Kyung-wan had asked Woo-jin to meet him today for the same reason.

Today was Tuesday, the day of the executive meeting.

After the meeting, CEO Chun Jong-geol would probably call Kyung-wan on Wednesday morning.

The result of the competition depended on what Kyung-wan and Chun Jong-geol talked about at that meeting.

That’s why he wanted to meet Woo-jin first.

Kyung-wan wasn’t sure what he wanted from Woo-jin at this meeting.

Maybe he wanted good reasons to support WJ Studio’s design.

Kyung-wan smiled slyly and slowly began to speak.

“I have a few questions for you today, CEO Seo.”

“Questions? About what?”

“What else? It’s about the design competition, of course.”

When Kyung-wan said this, Woo-jin’s eyes lit up. Kyung-wan noticed.

“What do you think?”

“If you ask me like that, out of nowhere, how can I answer?”

Kyung-wan chuckled.

“Do you really think your design is good enough to win?”

Woo-jin quickly thought about what Kyung-wan wanted to hear.

‘He wouldn’t have asked me here just for a meal if he didn’t like the design…’

Woo-jin replied.

“I sent it because I thought it was good enough.”

“Wouldn’t you have sent it anyway, even if you didn’t think it was good?”

“No, I wouldn’t. If I didn’t think it was good, I would have just quit.”

“Hmm, really?”

Woo-jin was telling the truth.

He would rather withdraw from the competition than send a bad design and hurt WJ Studio’s reputation.

Kyung-wan saw that Woo-jin was sincere, so he started to be more honest.

“Actually, you’re right, CEO Seo.”

“About what?”

“I also thought it was good as soon as I saw it.”

“…!”

“So, I want to support WJ Studio. That’s why I asked you here today.”

Kyung-wan took a sip of tea and was quiet for a moment. Woo-jin was happy to hear this.

The competition wasn’t over yet, but he was glad that he had impressed Kyung-wan, who was in charge.

Woo-jin wanted Kyung-wan to say more.

“Then, you can just support it, right? What’s the problem?”

Woo-jin was usually calm, but this time he couldn’t hide his excitement.

The Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment project was something Woo-jin really wanted.

“Problem? Yes, there is a problem…”

Kyung-wan picked up some salad and started to get to the point.

“CEO Seo.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where we can find free money to pay for construction?”

“What? Out of nowhere?”

“You said there was a problem.”

“…?”

“The design is great. Wonderful. Neat. Luxurious. I even want to buy an apartment there.”

“Come on. You already live in Ahyeon-dong. You’re too greedy…”

“You told me to live there, so I can’t live here!”

“Is that how it works…?”

“Anyway, I’m getting off track…”

Kyung-wan shook his head.

“Here’s the point.”

“Everything is good, but the construction cost is too high, right?”

“That’s right.”

Kyung-wan frowned.

“You little rascal. You knew all along, but you were pretending not to?”

“Pretending? I just understood. Just now.”

“I wish you couldn’t talk…”

Kyung-wan sighed, looking at Woo-jin, who was just as sly as he was.

He felt this every time. This guy didn’t seem like he was only twenty-two.

“Talking to you makes me feel old.”

“That’s just how you feel.”

“Hoo.”

While they were talking, a large plate of sliced raw fish was put on the table. Woo-jin picked up a piece.

The tuna, shiny with oil, melted in Woo-jin’s mouth as soon as he tasted it.

Woo-jin had guessed what Kyung-wan was thinking.

“Sir, what is construction cost?”

“What else? It’s the money for pouring concrete.”

“Who pays for that?”

“The developer. Or the members of the association.”

“Then, can’t we just convince the members to accept the higher cost?”

“Everyone knows that.”

“So, we just need to find a way to make them choose our Clio, even if it costs an extra two million per apartment, right?”

Kyung-wan stopped himself from arguing.

Woo-jin’s words were exactly what Kyung-wan was thinking about.

This meant that Woo-jin had a plan.

Kyung-wan waited for Woo-jin to continue. Woo-jin slowly began to speak.

“In the end, the members want to benefit as much as possible.”

“That’s right.”

“They can benefit in other ways besides cutting construction costs.”

“The apartment price should go up more?”

“That’s the idea, but…”

Woo-jin continued.

“It will be hard to convince them with promises of future profits that might not happen.”

“Then what do we do?”

Woo-jin grinned.

“Don’t we have the option of general sales?”

Kyung-wan was surprised by Woo-jin’s suggestion.

General sales were needed to keep the reconstruction project going.

So, Woo-jin’s idea was a natural one.

“Hmm.”

Kyung-wan thought for a moment, then said quickly.

“Tell me more.”

The reconstruction project seems complicated, but it’s actually simple.

The project starts because people want better homes by replacing old apartments with new ones.

But it costs a lot of money to tear down the old building and build a new one.

Even if you add in the costs of finding temporary housing for the residents…

The construction is still very expensive.

So how do the members of the association pay for it?

The answer is the floor area ratio.

The floor area ratio is the ratio of the total area of all the apartment floors to the area of the land.

Apartments built a long time ago often had low floor area ratios of less than 150 percent.

In 2010, the Building Act said that the floor area ratio in the third type of residential area could not be more than 250 percent.

By using the remaining floor area ratio to build more floors and apartments, they can build a much bigger complex with more apartments than the original building.

So, if they tear down the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment, which has over a thousand apartments, and build a new complex…

Even after giving new apartments to the members of the association, they would have hundreds of apartments to sell to other people.

They can use the money from selling these apartments, which cost over a billion won each, to pay for the construction.

This is how they can rebuild the apartments without problems.

But if they pay for the construction by selling apartments, why do the members have to pay extra?

This is simple.

They have to pay extra if the money from selling the new apartments isn’t enough to cover the construction cost.

If the land is valuable and there are few members, they might even get a refund or get two apartments instead of paying extra.

“If we raise the price of the apartments we sell to the public to cover the construction cost, the members won’t have to pay as much.”

“Well, yes.”

“We can raise the price as much as the construction cost increases.”

Woo-jin spoke clearly.

“We don’t even need to raise it as much as the cost increases. If we cover about 70 percent of the increase with the sale price, the members will be happy to pay the other 30 percent.”

“Hmm…”

“Of course, if we raise it as much as possible and lower the members’ costs, we can get even better results.”

After Woo-jin finished, Kyung-wan thought for a moment.

He understood everything, but there were a few things to consider.

“Okay, everything’s good, but…”

Kyung-wan started to ask questions.

“First, the biggest problem is the sale price cap.”

“That doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

“Yes. They said they would get rid of it, so it doesn’t really matter…”

Kyung-wan took a sip of water.

“Then, the problem is whether people will pay the higher price…”

Kyung-wan thought for a moment.

“If we add the construction cost of one million won per apartment to the sale price, the total price will go up by 30 to 40 million won for a 34-unit apartment, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Will people pay tens of millions of won more than they expected? It’s a big problem if they don’t sell, right?”

In 2010, the real estate market was bad, and apartments in Gangnam weren’t selling.

The government wasn’t controlling how construction companies calculated the sale price.

That’s why they got rid of the sale price cap, which was meant to control prices.

So, Kyung-wan’s concern was normal, but Woo-jin wasn’t worried.

‘The Cheongdam Seonyeong Reconstruction will make a profit even if the construction company has unsold apartments…’

Unless they have over a hundred unsold apartments, the company just needs to wait until the building is finished.

It will cost money, but that’s okay.

By the time it’s finished, the new apartment will sell for hundreds of millions of won more.

‘If I had the money, I’d buy all the unsold apartments.’

But he couldn’t tell Kyung-wan this, so Woo-jin thought for a moment.