The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZ) on January 21 at Incheon City Hall signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Florida-based hospitality company The Kessler Collection and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to promote the “Cheongna Culture and Tourism Complex Project” within Cheongna International City.
The MOU was concluded to establish a cooperative framework among the private enterprise, the public institution that owns the land, and the local government for the creation of a complex in Cheongna International City that combines culture, tourism, and content functions.
Attending the signing ceremony as representatives were Yoo Jeong-bok, Mayor of Incheon; Hong Jun-ho, Deputy Commissioner of IFEZ; Richard C. Kessler, Chairman and Founder of The Kessler Collection; and Kang O-soon, Head of the Regional Balanced Development Headquarters of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).
The Cheongna I-CON City Project, as part of the K-Conland Project promoted by Incheon Metropolitan City, is planned to be developed on approximately 260,000 square meters at the investment-attraction site in Cheongna International City, Seo-gu, Incheon.
The project will include a range of facilities such as a luxury boutique hotel and resort/condominiums, a live museum, a K-content Tower, a VFX (visual effects) studio, an arena, officetels, senior housing, and parks. The objective is to create a space in which cultural, tourism, business, and residential functions are integrated.
The Kessler Collection, Daol Asset Management Co., Ltd., Cheongna ICON City Co., Ltd. (to be established), and Galaxy Corporation Co., Ltd. will participate as strategic equity investors in the Cheongna I-CON City Project, while SK Securities Co., Ltd. will participate as a financial investor and POSCO E&C Co., Ltd. will participate as the construction company. In addition, Galaxy Corporation Co., Ltd. plans to directly operate the K-content Tower, the VFX studio, and a permanent arena performance venue to be located within the complex.
As the project lead company, The Kessler Collection is a hospitality specialist headquartered in Orlando, Florida, USA, that develops and operates hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other lodging and tourism-related facilities as region-defining cultural complexes. Its facilities, including the Plant Riverside District, are characterized by distinctive spatial planning and design that reflect local cultural, artistic, and historical attributes.
Richard C. Kessler, Chairman, said, “Incheon will be an important foothold for the Kessler Collection’s expansion into Asia, and by combining Cheongna International City’s potential with the Kessler Collection’s unique concepts, we will create one of Asia’s representative complexes for culture, tourism, and content.”
Yoo Jeong-bok, Mayor of Incheon, said, “The Kessler Collection’s investment in Cheongna International City will be an important catalyst for building Incheon’s cultural and artistic ecosystem, and Incheon Metropolitan City plans to proceed in an orderly manner with the procedures related to project implementation through active cooperation with relevant institutions and companies to advance the culture, tourism, and content infrastructure of Cheongna International City.”