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INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA-Taubman Centers is vying for the retailcomponent of New Songdo City, a planned 20-square-mile city thatwill be developed here over the next 15 to 20 years with some 95million sf of office, residential, retail and hotel development.Bloomfield, MI-based Taubman says it has entered discussions andsigned a letter of interest with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fundsand Gale International, who with partner POSCO E&C will bedeveloping about two square miles (1,500 acres) of the new city.The budget for their portion of the project is $12.7 billion.Theletter of interest "outlines the process to form a company toexclusively develop the retail components of New Songdo City,Incheon, South Korea," according to Taubman's press release. "Uponfinal agreement, the new company would be granted an exclusiveright to invest in and act as the managing general partner for aretail joint venture entity to be formed in 2005."New Songdo City,the first ever US-Korea real estate venture, is one of the largest,mixed-use development projects ever undertaken. The area has beendesignated a Free Economic Zone (FEZ), which provides significanttax incentives for corporations and residents. The city is expectedto include 50 million sf of office space, 30 million sf ofresidential space, 10 million sf of retail, five million sf ofhotel space and 10 million sf of public space. Harvard Universityaffiliate, Harvard Medical International, has been engaged as adevelopment partner for medical facilities. The schools are beingplanned in conjunction with the Harvard Advisory Group. Aconsortium of six leading IT companies: Microsoft Corp.,Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, YoungWoo & Associates, LGCNS and KT Corp. are providing technical support to the city. Plansalso include a wide range of cultural and recreational amenities tobe available, including a Jack Nicklaus golf course.