INCHEON -- Plans to construct a global golf village within the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Songdo, Incheon, have been at a standstill for the past six years, said the related parties Thursday.
“It is a shame that the prestigious global golf course has been abandoned for such a long time,” said officials from the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority. “We hope that the project will move on as planned.”
An image of the planned global village at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Songdo, Incheon
Gale International, a major real estate development partner of the city, has been leading the project envisioned upon the opening of the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in 2010.
The village was to be developed by Gale International and the US-based Kitson & Partners, while Mai Architecture was to take charge of the design and Posco Engineering & Construction the construction. It was to span some 286,428 pyeong (945,212 square meters) of land on which 179 units of two-story houses were to be built.
The project, however, has been deferred due to unconfirmed internal and external reasons such as tax issues, according to insiders.
New Songdo International City Development had also reportedly attempted to sell off the site at one point, but the move was halted, as Gale International Chairman Stan Gale reportedly remained committed to undertaking the global village project.
“The chairman of Gale International said that he would like to take charge of the golf village construction project himself, but there has not been any further progress made,” said an official from Gale International Korea.
By Lee Hong-seok (
gilbert@heraldcorp.com)