A Name Change Could Bring in 10 Billion Won? The Tempting Appeal of a Regional Apartment

[Financial News] Residents of a Newlywed Hope Town complex in Gyeonggi Province tried to change the complex name to a construction company brand, but it was confirmed that the name cannot be changed. The complex includes rental housing owned by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and the construction company in charge of the project has ruled out the change.
According to the industry on the 5th, the residents' council of Godeok International New Town Hestible Apartment in Godeok-dong, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do, pushed to rename "Hestible" as "Harrington Place," a brand of Hyosung Group. The council estimated that changing the complex name would cost about 290 million won. It also sent residents a notice saying each household would need to pay about 900,000 won, excluding rental units. The complex, which moved in in 2023, has 496 households in total, including 330 sale units and 166 rental units under Happy Housing.
The notice added that the amount was a one-time cost, equal to 0.27% of each household's sale price, and said it was expected to bring "sufficient value increase beyond the contribution amount." The idea was that attaching the name of a private builder, rather than a separate complex name chosen by public-sale buyers themselves, could raise apartment prices. Once the matter became known, online communities were divided, with some saying it could lead to a value increase of more than 30 million won per household, while others responded that there was no reason to spend hard-earned 900,000 won on name marketing.
The residents' council is also said to have asked Hyosung Group about changing the complex name, but Hyosung said the apartment cannot use the "Harrington Place" name. A Hyosung official said, "Jinhung Enterprise, an affiliate of Hyosung Group, only handled the construction work," adding, "Because the exterior design and colors were all built according to LH's orders, it does not match our brand identity, so it is, in principle, impossible."
In addition, because the complex includes rental housing, LH's consent is essential for any name change, and observers say that process is also unlikely to be easy. Even at "Sinchon Grand Xi" in Mapo-gu, Seoul, which is a private apartment complex, Seoul Housing & Urban Development Corporation (SH Corporation) once asked for consent from all tenants in the rental units, 216 households, when the name was changed to "Mapo Xi Grand Xi."
New Hope Town is a public housing program for newlywed couples or prospective newlyweds who have been married for less than seven years, or for households without a home and with children aged 6 or younger. LH, an agency under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, serves as the project operator. In 2022, LH revised its internal guidelines so that the "LH" logo would be removed from New Hope Town complex names and residents could choose a "separate complex name" on their own. The move was designed to address the reluctance to use the LH name amid social bias against public-sale and rental housing. "Hestible" was created in that context. LH also allowed the use of a builder's brand if it obtained consent from the private construction company that built the New Hope Town complex, but few complexes are expected to make that change in practice.
ming@fnnews.com Jeon Min-kyung Reporter