(Changwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong-Hoon Lee = Lotte Department Store Masan Branch in Masan Happo-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do closed in June 2024, but there is still no clear plan for use.
The entire department store building, which served as the center of the commercial district in Masan Happo-gu, Changwon City along with Masan Fish Market and attracted floating population, has been empty for over two years, continuing the problem of hollowing out the original downtown and shrinking local commercial districts.
According to Changwon City on the 26th, KB Asset Management, which owns the former Lotte Department Store Masan branch building with 5 floors underground and 20 floors above ground, has not yet come up with a plan to utilize the building other than promoting the sale.
However, recently, following KB Asset Management, which owns a 97% stake in the department store building, about 30 individual owners with a 3% stake in the building agreed to the sale policy, opening the way for the entire building to be sold en masse.
However, although the major direction of sale has been set, the future blueprint is unclear.
Although the private sector's purchase and development of the building or site is considered a realistic option, Changwon City cannot ignore local public opinion that the department store building should be used as a public facility to regenerate the original downtown.
We are in a situation where we need to find common ground between the conflicting issues of private development and public facility utilization.
Changwon City is also suggesting a plan to secure space for public facilities instead of increasing business feasibility by giving incentives such as increasing the floor area ratio to private operators.
Changwon City stated that it has not officially received a development proposal from a private contractor that compromises private development and public use.
Changwon City appears reluctant to accept the opinion that the public should purchase the building and use it as a public facility.
This is because the city's financial burden is large, as it requires at least tens of billions of won from purchase costs to building remodeling costs.
Along with Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province and the Gyeongnam Provincial Office of Education are also keeping an eye on ways to utilize department stores.
Gyeongnam Governor Park Wan-soo, Gyeongnam Office of Education Superintendent Kwon Soon-ki, and Changwon Mayor Kang Ki-yoon made a common pledge to resolve the stagnation of the original downtown by utilizing department store buildings as public facilities during the June 3 election campaign.
After the local elections, the Gyeongnam University Leap Preparation Team, Gyeongnam Provincial Office of Education, Gyeongnam Office of Education Supervisory Transition Committee, Changwon City, and Changwon Mayoral Transition Committee, which served as the transition committee for the second term of Gyeongnam Provincial Government, visited the department store building and seemed to begin discussions on public use, but follow-up discussions could not proceed.
An official from Gyeongnam Province explained, “The three organizations have only confirmed the principled position that they will utilize the building in a way that will help revitalize the original downtown,” and added, “Because the building itself is privately owned, there are limitations in taking active action.”
The Lotte Department Store Masan branch in Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si closed in June 2024 due to declining sales.
At the time of closure, sales were the slowest among the 32 Lotte Department Store stores nationwide.
Nearby small business owners are complaining that the local commercial district continues to stagnate as the floating population decreases after department stores close, and they continue to demand the use of abandoned buildings, such as for public institutions to move into.
