Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 308: Joint Venture (3) – Part 1

Gun-Ho received a call from Director Kang from GH Development.

“Sir, it’s Director Kang.”

“Oh, Director Kang. Thank you for picking up those American engineers at the airport and driving them to Asan City yesterday.”

“Sure thing, sir. I should, of course, give any support that I could to any GH companies. I called because I have something that I need to discuss with you, sir. We have received a letter from Seoul City Hall. They said if we make our building’s rooftop green like a garden or something, they will subsidize the cost by about 50%. Also, they are willing to pay for the service fee charged by the county office for their security inspection. I’m wondering if we want to apply for it.”

“Have the papers ready. I’m coming to Seoul for another business anyway. I will stop by the office.”

“Sounds good, sir. I will be here.”

It had been a while since Gun-Ho went to his building in Sinsa Town. It seemed that a new security guard was working on the day Gun-Ho visited the building. The security guard didn’t recognize Gun-Ho.

“I like this way better. Since he doesn’t recognize me, I don’t need to be bothered in taking the elevator to my office.”

Gun-Ho headed to his office on the eighteenth floor. When he opened the door, the workers in the office were all surprised and quickly stood up from their seats.

When he entered his office, some fund transfer slips were piled up on his desk waiting for his review and signature. Gun-Ho spent about an hour to review and sign the papers.

“Director Kang, please bring me the letter you received from the city hall the other day.”

Director Kang brought the letter to Gun-Ho.

“Hmm. Is it necessary to build a garden on our rooftop?”

“Well, the tenants in our building will definitely like it. It will provide a pleasant resting area, and it can also deter some undesirable activities going on in the building. For example, many young people in the building smoke around the emergency exit. We can’t prevent them from doing so since they are free to do so, but the problem is that many of them just tossed the cigarette butts on the ground after smoking.”

“Hmm.”

“Many of those cigarette butts are not properly extinguished, and they could cause a fire. Some of those people even toss the cigarette butts in the air and let them land on the street. We need something to restrain those activities.”

“So we want to make a garden or even a small park on the rooftop, so the smokers would smoke cigarettes there instead of somewhere inside the building.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s go see the rooftop now.”

“Sure, sir.”

Director Kang picked up the key to the rooftop and started walking in front of Gun-Ho.

The metal door leading to the rooftop was locked and there was a sign on the door, saying, “Staff Only.” Once Director Kang opened the door, Gun-Ho could see a huge ventilator with all sorts of junk. Most of them were the leftover materials from the building renovation, such as pieces of timber and Styrofoam.

“I think we can move the ventilator and the power system up, in order to secure more space for the park project. One of the project managers of a construction company visited here the other day, and he said we can have about 150 pyung large park here without getting rid of that ventilator and power system.”

“150 pyung...”

“We can even build a small space for business here like 30 pyung large and rent it out for a small bar business or something. We can still have a 120 pyung large park.”

“Did we get a price quote for the work?”

“Making a building rooftop green usually costs from 500,000 to 600,000 won per pyung. If we want to make it more luxurious with a nice tree or by raising the wall to block the strong wind, then it will cost more.”

“If so, let’s say that it costs 100 million won to make the green rooftop that we want, then Seoul City will subsidize 50 million won since that’s the 50% of what we spend, right?”

“That’s correct. The subsidy includes the safety inspection fee and cost to waterproof.”

“Hmmm. Well, we still have to spend half of the construction price.”

“I think that building a small space on the rooftop for a small bar and renting it out is a good idea. After about three years of renting it, I believe we will be able to recover the cost of the entire rooftop construction.”

“What is the floor space here?”

“It’s 270 pyung, sir. And the building to land ratio applicable to our building is 80%.”

“Hmm. I see. I will review it.”

Gun-Ho had lunch with Director Kang at a restaurant nearby Garosugil Road that day, and he came back to Asan City.

Gun-Ho went to the joint venture company in Asan City to see how things were going there.

All machines and equipment were installed, and Director Park was connecting the power and cooling system to them. The production manager stood up and greeted Gun-Ho when he saw Gun-Ho coming into the production field.

“The machines seem to be all in place.”

“We will test the entire production line tomorrow.”

“I know we received the raw materials already. What about chemical materials? Are they ready?”

“Yes, sir. We now have 50 different chemicals in our storage.”

“Once the American engineers from Dyeon America start working on the compound, you will have to take a very good look at them. That’s the key to our business.”

“I will keep that in mind, sir.”

“Especially, make sure that you take note of the ratio of the compounds.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gun-Ho then walked up to the second floor where his office was located.

When Director Yoon was told that Gun-Ho was in his office, he came to Gun-Ho’s office, carrying the report and papers to be signed with him.

“How are you doing, Director Yoon? I know you used to work outside in the construction field. How is the work in the office?”

“I like it. It’s fun.”

“That’s good to hear. Are those engineers from Dyeon America still staying in a hotel?”

“No, sir. They already moved to a OneRoom. They are staying in the same building as Mr. Adam Castler.”

“Was the owner okay with the short-term lease? They will only stay there for three months.”

“Yes, since those OneRooms were vacant anyway, he didn’t mind renting them for a few months. Moreover, he liked the fact that the tenants are high-level engineers from U.S., rather than blue-collar foreign labor workers.”

“I see. Well, please make sure to pay the rent on time. A landlord’s worst nightmare is receiving the rent not on time.”

“Understood, sir. And, I have something to suggest, sir.”

“What is it?”

“Director Kim is currently giving a ride to the vice president—Mr. Adam Castler—in commuting. Also, the other three engineers are commuting with the general affairs assistant manager. Our company provides them with the cost of gas, but once we get busy, this current commuting setting will become burdensome. I think that we’d better purchase a company car and hire a chauffeur.”

“Hmm.”

“Once we have a chauffeur working for our company, he can be very helpful for you, sir. We all think you drive too much, sir. You are coming back and forth between the factory in Jiksan Town and here in Asan City, and we think you need a chauffeur to drive for you. Since you are young, sir, you might not think it’s necessary, but many business owners who have smaller companies than yours have a chauffeur, so they could conserve their energy for the actual business operation work.”

“Hmm.”

“Sometimes, Director Kim comes to work to only pick up Mr. Adam Castler after meeting with a client somewhere else. If he didn’t have to give a ride to Mr. Castler, he would have just gone home for the day after the meeting. So, I sometimes give a ride to Mr. Adam Castler for Director Kim.”

“Let’s think about hiring a chauffeur. For now, let’s rent a car for three months. Let’s ask the car rental company to send us a chauffeur as well, who can speak English if possible. As to the car, ask Mr. Adam Castler to choose from Grandeur K7 or SM7.”

“Yes, sir.”