Korea’s Mastern Teams With KT Living on Seoul Rental Housing Project

Seoul-based Mastern Investment Management has partnered with the rental housing arm of property giant KT Estate on a 440-unit development in the Korean capital.

Mastern’s 22-storey project at Guui subway station in Seoul’s eastern Gwangjin district is part of a broader strategy to redevelop ageing urban telephone exchange sites owned by KT Estate parent Korea Telecom, the companies said in a release.

Rental housing subsidiary KT Living, a manager of properties under the Remark Vill brand, will serve as Mastern’s operating partner on the under-construction project, which is scheduled for completion in December. The property will have 261 studio apartments of 20 square metres (215 square feet) to cater to singles and 93 one-bedroom apartments of 40 square metres aimed at newly married couples.

“We are expanding strategic long-term partnerships with financially stable and experienced operators such as KT Living to create synergy,” a Mastern representative said. “By combining Mastern’s expertise in site acquisition and development with KT Living’s operational capabilities, we aim to further expand the supply of quality rental housing in Seoul.”

More in Pipeline

The partnership builds on Mastern and KT Estate’s relationship after the companies launched a $100 million rental housing fund in 2021 targeting key urban locations. The Guui station project is one of three rental housing developments financed under the fund.

Mastern currently operates and develops 2,200 units of rental housing across Seoul in the university areas of Guui, Mapo and Sinchon and key transport hubs like Noryangjin.

Beyond Guui, Mastern and KT Living are partnering on projects in Mapo (500 units) and Hongdae (280 units), according to the announcement.

Mastern and KT Living are also preparing additional funds to scale up their rental housing portfolio, including the repositioning of underutilised urban sites, small hotels and officetels into rental housing projects, the companies said.

Office and Retail Exits

The rental housing tie-up follows Mastern’s recent disposal of several commercial towers to take advantage of Seoul’s red-hot office market.

Mingtiandi reported last December that Mastern had completed the sale of D-Tower Donuimun in the capital’s central Jongno district to NongHyup REITs for $653 million. The transaction of the four-year-old office building marked 2024’s biggest deal closing in the central business district and second largest overall in South Korea last year.

That same month, Mastern announced the sale of Center Point Gangnam, a newly built office tower near Seoul’s Gangnam Station, to local fashion giant F&F for $246 million.

The investment manager has also selected Korea Investment & Securities as the preferred bidder for Doosan Tower after KIS offered $630 million, according to local news reports in February. The 34-storey Seoul tower is said to have also attracted bids from IGIS Asset Management and Kiwoom Asset Management after Mastern had acquired the building from Doosan Group for KRW 800 billion in 2020.

The Korea Economic Daily reported in August that Mastern had put up for sale 13 E-Mart outlets acquired from Korean retail giant Shinsegae in 2019, with market sources estimating that the portfolio could fetch $866 million.