Once a trendy student spot, sagging Sinchon is set to get a much-needed face-lift

Sinchon is not the vibrant student neighborhood it once was and the Seodaemun District Office hopes to change that by creating facilities for students and lifting regulations.

Stores in Sinchon are left unoccupied on March 25, with for-lease signs on windows. [LEE TAE-HEE]

Sinchon is not the vibrant student neighborhood it once was and the Seodaemun District Office hopes to change that by creating facilities for students and lifting regulations.

Sinchon in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, is home to many universities and students. Although the area is crowded with students as universities start their spring semester, many stores are left vacant due to high rents and the area no longer being considered quite so trendy.

At Yonsei-ro, the 500-meter-long (1,640-feet) street that connects Yonsei University's main gate and the Sinchon subway station, there were around 12 vendors that were empty on March 25.

The nearby Ewha Womans University neighborhood isn't much different.

Around 10 vendors were also left empty along the 300-meter-long street from the Ewha Womans University station to the university's main gate.

Both used to be considered neighborhoods where many university students gathered, known for their affordable food, string of cafes and clothing stores.

But things have been changing.

"The nearby Hongdae and Yeonnam-dong neighborhoods have become the trendy districts, and the Sinchon and Ewha Womans University neighborhood offers similar food and bakery options, with many people now buying clothes online rather than going to stores," said Park Se-ra, a researcher at Shinyoung Securities.

"But the [Sinchon and Ewha Womans University] neighborhood rents are around 150,000 won [$112] per pyeong [3.3 square meters] for commercial properties on the first floor, which is only down by around 8 percent from the highest price point of 164,000 won."

Stores near Ewha Womans University are left vacant on March 25. [LEE TAE-HEE]

The vacancy rate of commercial properties in the Sinchon and Ewha Womans University neighborhood was 18.3 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Korea Real Estate Board.

The figure is down 3.7 percentage points from the previous quarter, but it's still up 9.3 percentage points from the previous year.

Seoul's average vacancy rate was 5.8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2023, up 0.2 percentage points. On year, the figure fell 0.4 percentage points.

Popular areas such as Yeonnam-dong, in Mapo District, western Seoul, had a vacancy rate of 2.4 percent during the same period. The Hongdae and Hapjeong neighborhoods, also in Mapo District, had a vacancy rate of 4.7 percent.

Seodaemun District aims to help those areas live up to their past fame.

The district announced Monday it plans to create a so-called Sinchon Square to host festivals and performances in the neighborhood.

Making a startup cluster where students can listen to entrepreneurship classes and get business mentoring is also part of the plan.

The district also announced that it hopes to lift the public transport-only regulation imposed on Yonsei-ro. Currently, only vehicles with more than 16 passengers, emergency vehicles and bicycles are allowed on the street, and the district claims that allowing both public transport and regular cars will attract more people to the area.

Stores in Yonsei-ro had daily KB card transactions worth 254,757 won on average between February and April 2023, according to the district. This was when the public transport-only restriction was temporarily lifted, between January and September 2023.

Between November 2023 and January this year, when the restriction was reimposed, stores had daily KB card transactions worth 239,215 won on average. The figure is down 6.1 percent.

According to the district office, it requested lifting the public transport-only regulation to the Seoul city government and got a positive response.

"There's no reason to postpone the lifting of Yonsei-ro's designation as a public transport-only area," said Lee Seong-heon, mayor of Seodaemun District. "We strongly requested the agenda to the Seoul city government, basing it on data we collected through requests of our residents and business owners, and we expect the decision to be made soon."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]