The “Jeju Dream Tower,” or “Twin Building” will be built in Nohyeong-dong, Jeju City, after Donghwa Investment and Development Co. Ltd., an affiliate of Lotte Tour, signed a contract with Greenland Holding Group Co. Ltd. to construct the landmark hotel

Greenland is one of the biggest real estate development companies in China and it pledged to invest 900 million US dollars as Donghwa sold the corporation 23,301 square meters of land. The company reported that the land, located at an important traffic hub, Nohyeong junction, and 3 k.m. from the airport, received planning permission for the construction of two bulidings, 61 and 63 storeys, and preliminary engineering was completed.

Construction will begin next year and the 1-billion dollar investment will be completed by 2016. It will include a hotel (910 rooms) and the largest resort condo in Jeju (1140 rooms). There were plans for apartments, but these were shelved. Greenland will manage the resort condo, while Donghwa will control the landmark hotel.

The site has been empty for 30 years since first being cleared in 1983. At that time, investors planned to build a 13-story hotel and received permission to do so; however, financial problems led to the project being cut short. Donghwa took over the site in Dec. 1993. Despite Donghwa receiving premission to build the Jeju Dream Tower on May 4, 2009, funds were not available to get it started and it was delayed three times.

Jeju City has restrictions of 55 meters for bulidings yet this regulation was relaxed to allow bulidings up to 210 meters in the the “1st Class District Unit Plan,” leading to local anger. There is expected to be more controversy due to the change in building use from apartments to resort condos. On top of this, locals have expressed fears that the Nohyeong Rotary area will become “a traffic hell” during rush hour.

Source: Jeju Sori.