SSG.com HQ’s ‘KB Yeongdeungpo Tower’ up for sale... Newly built, fully leased office building on the block [fn Market Watch]

[Financial News] KB Yeongdeungpo Tower, which SSG.com uses as its headquarters, is up for sale. The newly built property was completed in 2024, and has no vacancies because SSG.com and its subsidiary W Concept Korea lease the entire building. The seller plans to complete the sale by the first half of next year, highlighting its stable rental income.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 8th, KB Asset Management recently began selecting an adviser for the sale of KB Yeongdeungpo Tower. KB Asset Management had previously acquired the building in 2024 through KB Yeongdeungpo General Real Estate Private Investment Company for approximately 83.1 billion won. The deal closed at a time when Seoul office building transaction volume had fallen to 391.2 billion won in October of that year. Based on gross floor area, the acquisition price amounted to about 20 million won per 3.3 sq. m.
KB Yeongdeungpo Tower is located at 30 Yeongsin-ro 34-gil in Yeongdeungpo District, near the Yeongdeungpo Market intersection. It is a five-minute walk from Exit 4 of Yeongdeungpo Market Station on Seoul Subway Line 5, and Yeongdeungpo Station on Line 1 is also nearby. The gross floor area is 13,786.25 sq. m. (about 4,170 pyeong), and the building has five basement levels and eight above-ground floors. Its floor-area ratio is 399.97%, its building coverage ratio is 53.12%, and its date of use approval was September 5, 2024.
The lease structure is simple. SSG.com occupies 81% of the total area, and W Concept Korea uses the remaining 19%. The weighted average lease expiry (WALE) is 3.38 years. KB Asset Management acquired the building immediately after its completion, and SSG.com moved in right away as the sole tenant. The arrangement involved acquiring a newly built property together with a long-term tenant.
SSG.com finalized its relocation in October 2024 and moved in the following February. At the time, the company said it had decided to relocate “to overcome the crisis and achieve sustained growth,” citing cost efficiency, a more comfortable work environment and transportation access. A key aim was to move its headquarters from Centerfield in Yeoksam-dong to reduce rental costs.
SSG.com moved into about 5,000 pyeong on floors 21 through 25 of Centerfield East Tower, where Chairman Chung Yong-jin has his office, in June 2022. Since its launch, however, the company has never recorded an annual operating profit. Its operating losses on a standalone basis were 110.2 billion won in 2022, 99.1 billion won in 2023, 70.4 billion won in 2024 and 114.6 billion won in 2025. Starbucks Korea (SCK COMPANY) and Shinsegae I&C moved into the space vacated by SSG.com.
Real estate IB industry sources identified the tenant’s creditworthiness as a factor that could determine the success of the sale. One industry official said, “It’s a strength that an affiliate of the group leases the entire building,” but noted that “prospective buyers will want to scrutinize the fact that the tenant continues to post losses and that there is effectively only one tenant.” With about three years remaining on the lease, whether it is renewed could also affect the price, the official said.
The investment market outlook is not unfavorable. According to CBRE Korea, investment in Seoul commercial real estate totaled 9.6488 trillion won in the third quarter of this year, up about 5% from the previous quarter, with large office transactions driving the increase. Savills Korea, however, said rising government bond yields had increased pressure for capitalization rates (cap rates) to rise. That is why interest rates are seen as a key factor in determining sale prices.
An IB industry source added, “The pool of prospective buyers is likely to be broad, given that this is a newly built, mid-sized asset in the 80-billion-won range with no vacancies,” and said, “The final price will be determined by the tenant’s creditworthiness and interest-rate trends.”
[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter