Budget cosmetic brand Nature Republic’s flagship store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, was once again pegged as the priciest piece of real estate in the country, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday.

According to the authority, the price of Chungmuro 1-ga 24-2, Jung-gu, Seoul, was appraised at 80.7 million won ($728,310) per square-meter, the highest in the country. The price is about a 5 percent jump from 77 million won assessed last year, and has topped the list for 12 consecutive years.

The total price of the 169.3 square-meter store site is 13.6 billion won. Nature Republic is known to pay 250 million won in monthly rent on top of a 3.5 billion won-deposit for the four-story building. 


Myeong-dong swept the list, with the sites of Lloyd, DEC32ND, New Balance, Etude House, Noon Square, Adidas, The Body Shop, Laneige and Espoir stores named among the top 10.

“Being one of the most popular shopping districts among Japanese and Chinese travelers, Myeong-dong has always been known as a hot spot for retail brands,” Cushman & Wakefield noted in its 2014 report. The global real estate developer named Myeong-dong the eighth-priciest commercial district in the world.

Nature Republic CEO Chung Woon-ho also acknowledged that the rent is worth paying. “Foreign customers have made the building an iconic place, and helped the sales of ‘K-beauty,’” he said at a previous media briefing.

Meanwhile the priciest pieces of real estate in Busan and Daegu were the LG Uplus shop site in Bujeong-dong with 24 million won per square-meter, and the Judicial Scrivener’s Association building with 23 million won, respectively.

The least pricey went to a yard in Gasajodori of Jindo in South Jeolla Province. It marked 86 won per square-meter, about 930,000 times cheaper than the No.1.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)