The bidding race for Premier Place is heating up. More than ten bidders have joined, and eight have already completed interviews, underscoring strong market interest.

Among them, IGIS Asset Management has drawn the most attention — not only bidding for Premier Place, but proposing to also acquire the adjacent Seoul Finance Center (SFC) in order to redevelop the entire block.

The move is particularly striking because IGIS did not participate at all in last year’s SFC sale process. Even as GIC, the current owner, signaled willingness to sell if pricing matched expectations, IGIS stayed on the sidelines. Yet in the Premier Place tender, IGIS has unveiled a strategic card: “we’ll buy both.”

It reflects the firm’s transformation in recent years from a traditional asset manager into an active developer with deep project finance (PF) capacity.

• Hilton Hotel Redevelopment: ₩4.5 trillion combined PF commitments for demolition and construction.

• Seocho Seoripul Mixed-Use: ₩5.35 trillion PF raised.

• Seoul Station (Seoullo & Metro Tower): Roughly ₩2 trillion PF arranged.

• Sewoon 5-1 & 3 District: 1.3 million sq. ft. office redevelopment underway.

• Nanjin Arcade (17–18 blocks): 1.55 million sq. ft. project acquired from Blitz.

• The-K Hotel Redevelopment (Teachers’ Pension): Project manager for a 3 million sq. ft. site.

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  Conversion Projects: Actively pursuing office-to-hotel and retail-to-mixed-use schemes such as D-Cube City (Sindorim), Doosan Tower (Dongdaemun), and Lotte Bundang.

Such a string of large-scale initiatives fueled speculation that IGIS would join the Seoul Square tender, potentially creating a mega-project by combining Hilton, Metro, Seoullo, and Seoul Square. Market chatter was strong, and IGIS even hinted at interest — but ultimately did not bid. Instead, the firm has pivoted its sights to Gwanghwamun.

IGIS’s twin-bid for Premier Place and SFC is not entirely new. It mirrors GIC’s earlier ambition. After acquiring SFC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund purchased Mugyo Building (now The Exchange Seoul) and Premier Place, with the long-term goal of redeveloping the entire Gwanghwamun block.

Rising interest rates and escalating construction costs forced GIC to abandon that plan, first selling Mugyo, and now divesting the remainder.

IGIS now appears ready to pick up where GIC left off. In effect, Round 2: a Hilton-scale redevelopment, this time in the heart of Gwanghwamun.

Pulling off such a plan, however, is far from straightforward. Financing conditions in the PF market remain tight, regulatory hurdles are complex, and future tenant demand must be secured.

But should IGIS manage to execute, the project could once again redraw the office landscape in central Seoul.