Flagship Companies, the developer behind a roughly $2.5 billion new city project in Utah, has grown along a path that sets it apart from conventional real estate developers. The firm reinvested profits from its projects into buying new land and expanding its business, quickly building a growth model for a regional developer. Now, as it moves to become a company that builds entire cities — housing, commercial facilities and parks — the firm, which promotes the idea of a "walkable city," has turned its attention not to Seoul or Tokyo but to Incheon's Songdo International Business District.
In an interview with The Seoul Economic Daily at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul's Seocho district on the 14th, Flagship Companies co-CEOs Nate Hutchinson and Craig Cannon said Songdo today bears no resemblance to the Songdo of 20 years ago. "We want to transplant to the U.S. what was done here — building high-rises and office facilities in a short period and attracting global companies to create a city with its own character," they said. They added that they are drawn not only to high-rise construction technology but also to the ability of Korean builders to plan an entire city and develop it quickly.
Flagship Companies also cites its own speed of execution as a strength compared with traditional U.S. development practices. A prime example is a residential development of about 2,000 lots built south of Utah City. The site includes several community clubhouses, swimming pools and nature trails, along with the roughly 50-acre (200,000 square meters) Water's Edge community park. The company had originally planned to sell the lots over 10 years but accelerated the schedule and completed sales of every lot in less than five years. Large residential developments in the U.S. typically proceed in phases over long periods, meaning the company cut more than five years from its plan.
Flagship Companies is now pursuing the Utah City project, which operates on a different scale from its earlier residential developments. With population and jobs growing rapidly in Utah County, the project involves creating a large new city where none existed before. Utah City is divided into roughly 350 acres (1.42 million square meters) to the west and about 350 acres (1.42 million square meters) to the east of the FrontRunner commuter rail station. By securing development rights to about 200 acres (810,000 square meters) of land owned by Utah Valley University to the east, the company now oversees development of the entire 900-acre (3.64 million square meters) site.
Another feature of Utah City is that it aims to attract new jobs and industries centered on universities and research institutions alongside housing supply. Flagship Companies plans to build a growth structure in which jobs and population increase together by linking businesses with Utah Valley University, Brigham Young University and the Huntsman Cancer Institute, an international research institution.
What Flagship Companies is proposing to Korean construction firms is a partnership in this kind of long-term urban development. Rather than acting as a contractor that puts up one or two buildings, collects its construction fee and leaves, the company wants partners that take part in the city's growth and share in the development gains. "What we want is not a relationship that ends after one or two buildings," Hutchinson said. "We want to combine Korean companies' technology and experience with our land and local development capabilities, and we have met with a range of Korean companies beyond builders for cooperation on smart city and energy technology, so we want to build a long-term partnership."