Strategy — Placemaking

Building a strategy for luxury real estate in Korea

A prime location in one of Korea’s largest cities. A blank canvas for its development.

The question
“what’s the best way to use it?”

Context

A leading luxury retailer, establishing itself in new categories and capable of delivering exceptional lifestyle experiences, owned a large plot of land with three sites. While two of the three were already fulfilled, the third – a parking lot – was a blank slate. The client had a sense of what they could develop here, based on planning permission, but to succeed they needed a partner who could help clarify and recommend the best proposition for long-term brand and commercial return.

With visions of a high-end lifestyle solution and of changing the culture of luxury in Korea, did the answer lie in offices, retail, F&B, residences, art, science… or something else entirely? In defining the brief we posed – and answered – a bigger question: what could the future of luxury look like, and how could it come to life across the three sites?

Before breaking ground, before working with architects, before any ideas were developed,

we were on the ground to create a strategy for what this new place will be.

Before breaking ground, before working with architects, before any ideas were developed, we were on the ground to create a strategy for what this new place will be.

Process

01

Site visit

02

Stakeholder interviews

03

Competitor landscape

04

Global and local luxury research

05

Audience needs and desires

06

Opportunities

Positioning

Result

Recognising a rising level of affluence in the area, but a lack of high quality residential and lifestyle experiences, our strategy brought clarity to the client, helping them understand which asset classes offered the greatest opportunity, both for the brand and commercially.

From parking lot to premium experience, our strategy helped the client rethink the entire development; creating a mixed-use destination that will shift the business into new areas, and position it as a true lifestyle leader.