Chapter 141: That Time We Got Hit by a Hurricane in South America (2)

TL: Skye

The day after the hurricane passed.

I went personally to inspect the damage in Old Town.

The moment I stepped out of the car, the sight before me left me speechless.

Old Town had been practically half-destroyed.

The ramshackle wooden houses had been smashed apart by the wind, leaving nothing but wreckage behind. Roofs had been ripped off and hurled hundreds of meters away, where they lay scattered across the roads, while planks that had once been walls were reduced to splintered pieces of wood strewn everywhere.

The low-lying areas were even worse.

The hurricane and torrential rain had struck at the same time, leaving whole sections completely flooded.

Waist-deep water still hadn't drained away, and furniture and household belongings floated on the surface.

Buildings with their roofs torn off, buildings with collapsed exterior walls, buildings with snapped support columns, all of them had been shredded like paper before a Category 4 hurricane.

Residents who had lost their homes overnight stood there in a daze.

“Have you arranged somewhere for those people to stay?”

“We plan to clear out the schools in the New Town nearing completion and use them as temporary shelters.”

“There must be a lot of them. Do we have enough room?”

“We're short on space, so with Field Marshal Pedro's cooperation, we're also working to vacate nearby military facilities.”

“Hmm.”

It was exactly the kind of thorough handling I'd come to expect from Isabella.

Of course, those were only temporary shelters.

Looking at the people who had lost their homes, I couldn't help but sigh.

More importantly.

'There's no guarantee this won't happen again.'

What if another hurricane came through?

More people would inevitably lose their homes.

'We don't need recovery. We need reconstruction.'

There was no point rebuilding the same old houses just to have them collapse again.

We had to fix the problem at its root.

Since the hurricane had already swept through the area, we might as well use the opportunity to overhaul the place completely.

“Chief of Staff, summon the senior secretaries immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

At the Cabinet Meeting convened soon afterward, I proposed a fundamental solution.

“We tear the whole place down and rebuild it from scratch.”

“When you say rebuild, what exactly do you mean...?”

“I intend to demolish all the aging buildings and the Shantytown in Old Town, then put up high-rise apartment complexes in their place.”

“By apartments, do you mean multi-family housing?”

“Yes. We'll build towers thirty stories or higher, with hundreds of people living in each one. With wind-resistant and earthquake-resistant designs, they'll be able to withstand the next hurricane as well.”

Senior Secretary for Construction Ramos rested his chin on his hand in thought before speaking cautiously.

“However, Tortilla Construction has almost no experience building high-rise apartments. Even in the New Town, most of the housing is five stories or less. Once you go above thirty stories, everything from structural engineering to construction methods is on an entirely different level.”

“Tortilla Construction doesn't have the capacity anyway, not with the Phase 2 New Town Project.”

“Then...”

“I plan to bring in outside construction companies with extensive experience in high-rise construction.”

“Do you have any in mind?”

“There is one country that builds apartments better than anyone else in the world.”

I brought a photograph up on the screen.

“South Korea.”

Apartment towers thirty, forty, and fifty stories tall lined the Han River. Endless rows of high-rises stretched as far as the eye could see. The senior secretaries stared open-mouthed at the enormous residential complexes where thousands, even tens of thousands, of people lived together.

“South Korea is practically covered from end to end in high-rise apartments. In a country of fifty million people, more than sixty percent of the population lives in apartments. Naturally, their apartment construction technology is also among the best in the world. If humanity ever reaches the point of colonizing space, Korean construction companies will probably be the ones building apartments on Mars and selling the units.”

“A country like that actually exists...!”

While everyone else nodded, Isabella raised a concern.

“However, most of the citizens who have just lost their homes are low-income. Only a tiny fraction of them will be able to afford new housing.”

Isabella was right.

San Marcos's unemployment rate might recently have fallen into the one-percent range, but even so, the people who had lost their homes this time were poor.

'Houses aren't exactly cheap.'

There was no way people like that could afford to buy an apartment.

But.

“There is a way.”

The San Marcos of today was no longer the San Marcos of the past.

It was now an emerging developing nation boasting double-digit economic growth.

On top of that.

“Tortilla Bank can provide the loans.”

San Marcos now had a bank comparable in size to one of South Korea's major commercial banks.

“You mean providing loans for home purchases?”

Isabella asked again, her eyes widening slightly.

“Yes. Think of it as paying the loan off while they live there.”

“The amount involved won't be small... They could end up becoming nonperforming loans.”

“No. It won't be that expensive.”

“...?”

“Korea has a miraculous concept known as Redevelopment. You give up the home you were living in and get to purchase a brand-new one cheaply.”

In San Marcos, citizens only held semi-permanent Land Use Rights. Fundamentally, all land belonged to the state.

In other words.

“They can surrender their Land Use Rights in exchange for buying an apartment at a low price.”

In many ways, the conditions were actually better than in Korea.

In Korea, even when Redevelopment took place, there were plenty of multi-family buildings such as villas, which meant each household owned only a small share of the underlying land.

That inevitably drove up the Contribution Payment.

But in San Marcos, multi-family housing was actually uncommon.

Naturally, each person tended to hold Land Use Rights over a relatively large plot, which meant the Contribution Payment would also be lower.

“Ah.”

Realizing how Redevelopment worked, Isabella let out a small exclamation.

“Put simply, they trade land for a home. Apartments let you build a large number of homes on a small amount of land.”

“Exactly. It should also help alleviate Libertad's housing shortage to some extent.”

“It certainly looks commercially viable.”

“Then have each ministry begin preparations for the Redevelopment project. I'll bring in Korean construction companies and hear what they have to say.”

That was the moment the concept of Redevelopment was born in San Marcos.

***

One week later.

A chartered plane landed at Libertad International Airport.

It carried a delegation from Korean construction companies.

Kim Jaehyun, Head of Overseas Construction Division at Saseong Corporation. Park Dongsu, CEO of Hyunhwa Construction. Along with them came executives in charge of overseas operations at other major Korean construction companies, including Daeyoung Construction and JS Construction.

They were all major figures in the industry.

Normally, it would have been difficult to gather so many of them in one place, but the reason they had come was simple.

News of a massive Redevelopment project in San Marcos.

With the Korean construction industry struggling, the news had been enough to bring the executives themselves all the way out here.

And so, in the main conference room of the Presidential Palace, the Korean construction delegation sat across from Yu-jin.

“Thank you for coming such a long way.”

Yu-jin greeted them in Korean.

“It is an honor to meet you.”

Kim Jaehyun of Saseong Corporation spoke first.

In his mid-fifties, he was a veteran among veterans, with a career that included securing major projects in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

“Let's get straight to the point. We intend to redevelop Libertad's Old Town. The scale will be approximately 200,000 housing units, primarily high-rise apartments. We're aiming for a construction period of eighteen months.”

The company representatives, who had already been briefed on the outline, flipped through their documents and exchanged glances.

The apartments might be built more cheaply than those in Korea, but 200,000 units still made it an enormous project.

Even if they cleared only ten million won in profit per unit, that would still come to more than two trillion won.

But Yu-jin had no intention of letting them have things their way.

“There is one condition. The Korean Redevelopment model is off the table.”

Questioning looks appeared on the faces of Kim Jaehyun and the others.

“In Korea, you normally provide the existing residents with a Relocation Allowance, then conduct a Pre-construction Sale, correct? You use the sale proceeds to finance construction, then the buyers move in after completion.”

“If we don't do it that way, then how are we supposed to carry out the Redevelopment...?”

Yu-jin cut him off.

“There is one major difference between Korea and San Marcos.”

“What is it?”

“All land in San Marcos is State-owned Land. That means there is no land acquisition cost, normally the single largest expense in a Redevelopment project. The government also intends to cover the Relocation Allowance.”

Yu-jin placed a document on the table.

“For that reason, a Pre-construction Sale will not be permitted. We will use Post-construction Sale only.”

“Then how are we supposed to finance the project?”

“You'll have to figure that out yourselves.”

Yu-jin replied calmly.

“You will sell 100,000 units to the citizens of Libertad. The government will approve the sale price at construction cost plus a reasonable margin.”

At the mention of the government even limiting their margins, everyone's expression hardened.

Kim Jaehyun, effectively speaking for the construction companies, immediately objected.

“Mr. President, the Pre-construction Sale system has functioned in Korea for decades. It is a proven model that reduces financial risk for construction companies and improves project stability.”

“I know it's a proven model. But a Pre-construction Sale ultimately means citizens paying money in advance for homes that haven't even been built yet.”

Yu-jin looked directly at Kim Jaehyun.

“Korea is the only country where people pay first for a home that doesn't even exist yet. And that causes plenty of problems, doesn't it? Delays are common, and sometimes buyers finally move in only to discover that the quality falls short of what they were promised.”

Kim Jaehyun fell silent. Everyone in the construction industry knew the downsides of the Pre-construction Sale system.

“I can't introduce a flawed system into San Marcos from the very beginning.”

The delegation's enthusiasm visibly cooled.

“If the units don't sell properly, we'll suffer enormous losses.”

As though he had anticipated the concern, Yu-jin offered a solution.

“If that happens, the government will purchase every unsold unit.”

“......”

Just as the tension in the room reached its peak.

“Hyunhwa Construction will accept the President's terms.”

Park Dongsu, CEO of Hyunhwa Construction, raised his hand.

Chairman Jeong of Hyunhwa and Yu-jin had already coordinated this beforehand.

“If everyone else here refuses, Hyunhwa will take on all 200,000 units ourselves.”

Kim Jaehyun's face stiffened.

If Hyunhwa took all 200,000 units by itself, everyone else would have to return home empty-handed.

With Korea's housing market in terrible shape, losing this project would mean leaving their equipment and workforce idle for several more months.

In the end, Kim Jaehyun clenched his teeth and answered.

“...Saseong Corporation will also accept the conditions.”

The representatives of the other construction companies agreed one after another. There was no longer any reason to hold out.

Yu-jin nodded in satisfaction.

“Thank you. This will be the first project in the history of the San Marcos government to be handled entirely by private construction companies. I'm counting on you.”

The construction company representatives stood and exchanged handshakes with Yu-jin.

***

Libertad Old Town. Demolition site.

A truck pulled to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Workers climbed down from the cargo bed one by one.

Pierson was among them.

He had been working at the New Town construction site before being reassigned to the hurricane recovery site.

After getting off the truck, Pierson looked around.

This was where his house had stood.

Pierson slowly walked into the alley.

The house was gone.

More precisely, only traces of it remained. Broken pieces of wood and shattered slate lay piled atop the concrete foundation.

The house where he had once lived with his family had become a heap of debris.

Anxious, Pierson stopped in front of the wreckage.

“......”

Pierson knelt and picked something out of the debris. It was a shard of a broken plate.

A plate Maria had treasured. They had bought it together on their wedding anniversary.

His hand trembled.

He had heard that his family had evacuated, but he was still terrified that something might have happened to them.

Then.

Step-

Footsteps came from the end of the alley.

Pierson raised his head and saw a woman walking toward him from the far end.

The moment their eyes met, it felt as though time had stopped.

“...Maria?”

Pierson's voice trembled.

“Pierson, is that you?”

Tears filled Maria's eyes. She covered her mouth with one hand.

At the sight of her, Pierson's legs nearly gave out.

“Have you... been okay?”

“...Yeah.”

“The kids?”

“At the shelter. I came by myself to see if anything might have survived.”

Meeting Maria's eyes, Pierson spoke softly.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.”

Tears ran down Pierson's face.

Maria buried her face against Pierson's chest.

And so, in front of the ruins of their home, the two were reunited.

*****

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