South Korea’s Pangyo office market has reached a milestone: it is now trading at valuations and rental levels comparable to Seoul’s Central Business District (CBD), long considered the country’s core prime office hub.

A consortium of Korea Investment & Securities and KakaoBank was recently selected as the preferred bidder for the Pangyo Tech One tower, offering approximately ₩33 million per 3.3 square meters—a valuation that closely mirrors bids submitted just days earlier for the Signature Tower in Seoul’s CBD.

According to market data, Pangyo Tech One has already overtaken Signature Tower in terms of effective rents. As of Q2 2025, average effective rents at Tech One reached ₩368,500 per 3.3 sqm, while recent leases at Signature Tower—including tenants like Korean Re and Hanwha Ocean—are reported at ₩340,000.

For years, it was an unchallenged truth in Korean commercial real estate that CBD offices commanded a premium over Pangyo. That assumption is now being tested. With oversupply risks looming in central Seoul and new inventory concentrated around 2029–2030, some investors are beginning to treat Pangyo as an equally viable, if not safer, prime market.

Tech One—completed in 2021—is the largest of four major office towers near Pangyo Station, with a total GFA of 198,000 sqm. Despite earlier concerns over its large ticket size (KRW 1.8–1.9 trillion), the bidding round held on July 1 drew strong attention from both domestic and global investors, including GIC and KKR.

In contrast, the Signature Tower sale, led by IGIS Asset Management and backed by Korea’s National Pension Service, attracted bids from just four groups—KB, Shinhan, Pacific AM, among others. While IGIS had hoped for a mid-₩30 million valuation per 3.3 sqm, most bids hovered around ₩33 million. With a total GFA of about 100,000 sqm, the expected transaction size is near KRW 1 trillion.

The divergence in investor sentiment reflects more than just pricing. Pangyo’s appeal is boosted by limited future supply, strong tech tenant demand, and newer, campus-style buildings. In contrast, the CBD is facing a wave of large-scale completions—many over 33,000 sqm—due to be delivered within the next five years.

An investor involved in the Signature Tower bidding noted, “It’s not a question of if CBD supply arrives, but when. That’s why we priced based on stable cash flow from credit tenants rather than expecting capital appreciation.”

As such, Pangyo is no longer just Korea’s version of Silicon Valley—it’s now part of the prime office conversation, and may even become the new benchmark.