Asia Center saga on hold as plans pulled from the city

The Asia Center at the south end of Denver’s Little Saigon Business District may have been spared an imminent demise, but the controversy isn’t over.

Asia Center Development LLC, the group that owns the strip mall just north of Mississippi on South Federal Boulevard, filed preliminary plans in April with the City of Denver to redevelop the site, where the current buildings date from 1956. The filing caught the surrounding community by surprise, since none of its members had been consulted about the plans; they learned about it from a social media post. 

The property hadn’t been well maintained, and even its current tenants admit it needs a makeover, but they’re afraid that a remake may change the mall’s historic relationship with the southeast Asian community.

Asia Center Development LLC bought the property in 2023 for $5,750,000, and redeveloping the mall has been part of the plan since its purchase. But the ownership group’s attorney, Chuong Le, insists the owners aren’t aiming to gentrify the spot and chase out the community’s history and heritage. 

Although members of the ownership group haven’t publicly identified themselves, Le says they have roots in Little Saigon, a district formed by refugees who settled in Denver after the Vietnam War. In fact, his uncle had a business on the corner across from the Asia Center, Le notes, adding that the owners understand the importance of the location and its long history as a bastion of ethnic identity. 

Still, the redevelopment’s initial filing was fumbled by a lack of communication; none of the mall’s tenants were alerted in advance, and only found out when news of the filing appeared on social media sites. They were also converned about a “placeholder” illustration included by the project’s architect that showed a four-story, glass-and-steel building that would look at home in Cherry Creek, not one of Denver’s Asian community hubs. That illustration has since been updated with pointy “oriental”-looking tops on the building’s corners, but they look more like after-the-fact cultural appropriation than a true design element. 

Katrina Nguyen, a realtor who grew up in the Little Saigon Business District (Denver City Council approved that official designation in 2014), was one of the first and most vocal opponents of the redevelopment plan when it came to light. She started a Change.org petition that now has almost 19,000 signatures.

“The concept plan is the thing that has been withdrawn and closed. The project master is still in progress, so I think they’re still probably going to resubmit,” Nguyen suggests.

So the fight isn’t over by any means, she warns in an Instagram post celebrating the withdrawal: “A win is a win. Let yourself feel it. Then put your shoes back on.”

Le agrees that his clients are still making plans for the property, despite the removal of the filing with the city. 

“Not much has changed and the project is ongoing and is in the preliminary stages,” he says by email. “It is my understanding that the withdrawal is part of the normal city process. We will continue to work with the tenants, community leaders, and stakeholders as we move forward with the project and there is more information to share.

“The media and social media has really blown it out of proportion,” he adds. “The group continues to work with the city and the Master Plan is still ongoing. The original exterior drawing was simply a placeholder and once the (final) drawing has been developed, it will be submitted and will be shared with the community.”

But that won’t happen soon, judging from Le’s earlier statements. In the meantime, the businesses in the mall and the community that dines and shops there may not see much change for years.