Denver’s Asia Center at South Federal Boulevard and West Tennessee Avenue, a longtime business and cultural hub for the city’s Vietnamese community, could be torn down and replaced with a four-story mixed-use apartment building with ground-floor retail.
But the proposed redevelopment has drawn fierce community pushback, with tenants saying the news blindsided them after talk of the center being torn down spread online. They worried they would not only lose their business, but the sense of community the Asia Center provides.
Many tenants of the shopping center — which is mostly made up of small, locally owned businesses — have since received a letter, in English, from the owners saying the redevelopment is “not an immediate project” and that they want to be “clear from the outset that there are no finalized plans and no timeline for construction.”
At Ba Le Sandwich, owner Thao Mai said she first heard about the plans from neighbors and online discussions. As the shop’s second owner, she and her husband have invested heavily in the business and said they hadn’t expected the possibility of redevelopment.
“We want to keep (our) business,” Mai said. “Support us to protect our community. We will not give up.”
Concept plans filed with the city last week, which have since been updated, show the site could include a courtyard, leasing office, 10 retail units and six office units on the first floor. Amenities could include a 2,000-square-foot community room. Floors two through four could feature up to 93 residential units in total, encompassing 12 studios, 48, one-bedrooms and 33 two-bedrooms.
On Wednesday afternoon, District 7 Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, community leader Father Joseph Dang and Chuong Le with 3i Law, the firm representing the owners, held a news conference outside the Asia Center to address tenant and community concerns.
“At this time, there is no demolition permits. There is no final redevelopment approval in place for the Asia Center. What has been submitted is an early concept for discussion, and that’s why we’re here. That means that now is the time to engage, not panic or be divisive, and not to have misinformation,” Alvidrez said.
Alvidrez told The Post that a public town hall will most likely be held in late May, though a specific date has not yet been set. She also clarified to those gathered outside the center that she had met with the property owner and Dang for lunch about one to two years ago, during which they informed her they were considering this plan.
“One of my first questions was, ‘have you talked to the business owners? Are you going to talk to the business owners? What’s causing this?’ And they told me that was 100% their intention, that their priority was to keep the local businesses here. I wasn’t aware that this plan was submitted recently,” she said.
If the project moves forward, the total cost is estimated to be $40 million, according to Le.
Le said it was never their intention to “hide anything,” acknowledging that many questions remain as the process moves forward, but the goal is to “shift the conversation out of speculation and into real information.”
On Monday, The Post talked to several business owners at the Asia Center, many of them who have been there for more than a decade, about the prospect of losing the space. Many of them, speaking through a translator, called the news of the redevelopment shocking.
owner Duc Bui, who has operated in the center for 20 years, said he worries about the prospect of starting over. While he recognizes the owner’s right to redevelop, he hopes the area’s designation as part of the Little Saigon business district could factor into the projectap outcome.
If relocation becomes unavoidable, he said he would want to remain nearby, noting that about 95% of his customers are Vietnamese. He also raised questions about whether there would be compensation for tenants, as he has invested significant money into equipment and operations over the years.
Tony Le, the owner of Tony Pho, said in a written statement: “If there is no business, the young generation will never know their original history, heritage, ancestors and culture of Asia community.”
“We will fight until the end,” his letter continued. “We fight for our community and our life.”
The letter tenants received last week from Asia Center Development LLC, together with 3i Law LLC, said work has been focused entirely on “exploration, understanding possibilities, constraints, and context so that future conversations across the community can be practical, informed, and grounded in real options rather than abstract ideas.”
The letter also said they recognize that the property has needed repairs and improvements for many years, which were often left unaddressed. It noted that part of this long-term effort is about taking responsibility for those needs thoughtfully and respectfully.
Father Dang, who is also a chaplain for the Denver Police Department, told The Post by phone on Monday that the way the news broke created “unnecessary hype” and “fear.”
He said the area’s Vietnamese heritage would not be lost and that the property could be improved while preserving its identity, noting that the center has long struggled with problems related to public safety and cleanliness.
Dang said he wants to make sure tenants and the building owner sit down together and work toward solutions. He added that the matter should be handled privately between the parties because of their contractual relationship, rather than in public.
“For me as a community leader, I encourage that. Let’s come together, let’s work and let’s compromise. How can we make this so that way, in the future, our children can look up to and be proud and say, this is Little Saigon business district. This is the Asia Center.”
The Asia Center is also near planned stops on the bus rapid transit line that the Colorado Department of Transportation is working to bring to the busy corridor. Asia Center Development LLC bought the property in 2023 for more than $5.7 million, according to city property records, before the .
The BRT project is also likely to eliminate parking in front of Asia Center businesses.
The Asia Center sits along Federal Boulevard between Alameda and Mississippi avenues, a corridor the city designated as the Little Saigon Business District in 2014.
The districtap roots trace back to the early 1980s, when Southeast and East Asian refugees and immigrants settled in the area. Today, the corridor is home to numerous Vietnamese and Pan-Asian-owned businesses and serves as a .
“These are not just businesses. They’re anchors of history, survival and identity. So when legacy businesses like these are displaced, I worry there’s not like a good plan for them to ever come back,” said Hannah Tran, a Vietnamese-American community member and documentary filmmaker who has documented the since 2024.
Tran said the area was the original hub for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian families to shop before Denver’s Far East Center opened in 1988.
“This area means a lot to people. That’s why everyone reacted very strongly,” Tran said.
Since the redevelopment plans came to light, social media posts about the potential impact of the demolition have spread rapidly across multiple platforms, leading Denver native Katrina Nguyen to to preserve the Asia Center. The effort has already collected over 10,000 signatures and more than 110 comments at the time of publication.
In the petition, Nguyen wrote, “Federal Boulevard raised me. My aunt owned Ba Le Sandwich, my parents ran a liquor store and a hair salon right across the street,” noting that she and her family continue to visit local spots like Giò Chả Cali, Kim Son Jewelers and Hong Kong BBQ.
Nguyen told The Post on Friday that she wants the owner and developers to recognize the significance of the Asia Center, ensure the process is transparent, and allow tenants and community members to stay informed and provide input.
“We don’t have a plethora of places that we can go to and so when you remove something that’s such an essential part of the community, it does make a big impact,” she said.
