South Korea eyeing to finance housing project in New Clark City

The government of South Korea is eyeing to fund a planned 3,000-unit residential area inside the New Clark City in Tarlac.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Monday signed a nonbinding agreement with state-owned Korea Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development Corporation (KIND) to conduct a study on the feasibility of the project.

BCDA president and chief executive Joshua Bingcang and KIND head of urban and property department Ryan Kwangbok Lee signed the agreement on the sidelines of the Philippines-Korea Business Forum in Manila Hotel.

The BCDA official said if the project pushed through after a six-month study, it would entail a P9-billion investment from the South Korean government.

“It will be contained first in a 5-hectare site in New Clark City. But in our master plan, there are numerous areas for mass housing of different typologies,” Bingcang told reporters in an interview.

“We intend to wrap up our negotiation by the end of the year and in fact, ground break within the end of the year,” he added.

The housing units would be offered for lease to government workers and minimum wage earners, but the BCDA said there was a provision in the arrangement that they could be converted into freehold if a law is passed in the future allowing for such setup.

According to Bingcang, they are targeting to offer monthly lease rates of P5,000 to P7,000 per housing unit.

BCDA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea-based firm RMS Platform to conduct a study in setting up a smart city infrastructure inside the New Clark City.

Bingcang said this involved the development of internet and telecommunication infrastructure inside the metropolis.

“A feasibility study will take a minimum of six months. And then if viable, they will come up with a proposal and then we’ll come up with a [public-private partnership] or a business model,” he said.