New York real estate: Chinatown

By Lana Bortolot | Special to amNewYork

February 28, 2008

Pigeons circle the sky at Pike Street and East Broadway in the Chinatown District of Manhattan. (RJ Mickelson / February 27, 2008)

Steeped in tradition, Chinatown is one of the city's few neighborhoods to fend off gentrification, keeping its cultural fabric intact through a constant infusion of immigrants who keep the neighborhood true to its roots.

"Chinatown's history has always been an attraction," says John Wang, president of the Asian-American Business Development Center. "but it's no more insular than any other ethnic community. People who come here know that it's different: They come here for the food and the shopping because they cannot find these things elsewhere."

It's unlikely developers will descend on Chinatown's dense patchwork of commercial and residential buildings: The center's zoning restrictions prevent high-rise building, and old family-owned buildings have little turnover. But along the edges, projects such as the luxury lofts in the Jewish Forward building (173 E. Broadway) and the recent seven-story, 24-unit development at 123 Baxter St., are leveraging the neighborhood's quirky charms without being in Chinatown proper.

"People want to buy in Chinatown, but because there are no high-rise buildings, there aren't a lot of affordable apartments on the market," says Sherri Shang of Century 21 NY Metro, who has a large Chinese clientele. "A lot of the available buildings don't have amenities--just the apartment with the key They don't want luxury--they just want to be surrounded by cultural things and the way of life."

And that's not likely to change anytime soon. Says Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corp., "People have been looking for housing here, but they have had no success so far, for the simple reason, most of the traditional core of Chinatown is very, very stable." Chen estimates that about 200 rent-controlled buildings are owned by more than 60 associations. "Those are not going to be touched," he said.

Glenn E. Schiller, senior vice president at Corcoran's SoHo office, has handled a number of properties in and around Chinatown, and he says the neighborhood is best experienced from the outside looking in.

"It's the edges of Chinatown that sell. I think the most interesting part of Chinatown is around East Broadway," Schiller said. "It's very rare that you'll see development in the core. But you will see all of East Broadway being developed."

The best way to experience this vibrant neighborhood is to live as close as possible and consider Chinatown as your backyard. Amid the tangle of hair salons and wedding shops, herbalists and Qi Gong shops, some of the city's best eating and shopping can be found, and cultural offerings are gaining attention.

One sign of the times is the rebirth of the Museum of Chinese in America. A new 14,000-square-foot space designed by architect Maya Lin, will lift the museum from its tucked-away location on the second floor of an old school building to a new building on Centre Street and Grand. Scheduled for launch in fall of this year, the relocation represents not only a new positioning for the Chinese community, but also a fusion of all New York City immigrant history.

"Historically, this area is overlayed by the super-major Chinese-American community, but underneath that layer is the history of America herself," says Charles Lai, the museum's executive director. "This is our American history that can be told. I want to make sure all visitors get that opportunity to appreciate that, as well as the excitement of Chinese-American [history]."

The Museum at Eldridge Street recently completed a glorious restoration, and now features robust cultural programming, which in the past included an annual block party called Egg Creams and Egg Rolls -- a nod to the institution's foot in both Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

Smaller changes include a new cropping of modern noodle and dim sum shops, attracting crowds of bubbly teen-agers sipping on their bubble teas. And on the outskirts of the neighborhood, trendy restaurants and boutiques are edging in next to markets and hardware stores. Yet, this is a neighborhood that likely will never see a Whole Foods or even a Gristede's: the indigenous food markets are too much a way of life here. And Fresh Direct doesn't deliver to all areas of Chinatown's two zip codes. It's this continuity that keeps Chinatown from becoming just a facade.

"I find it intriguing that many people move into these cultural districts -- and once it becomes too monolithic, they move on. There's a sense of people wanting something diverse and not monolithic," Lai said.

FIND IT
The boundaries are ever-expanding, but for now, Chinatown is bounded by Delancey street on the north, East Broadway and Worth Street to the south, Allen Street to the east and Broadway to the west.

THE BUZZ

Division Street east of the Manhattan Bridge shows signs of a hipster invasion. Though it's technically the Lower East Side, new businesses are popping up along side old-school Chinese storefronts and garages and Chinatown's ever-expanding borders make this area a de facto part of the neighborhood.

Two restaurants pioneered the area: Les Enfants Terrible (37 Canal St.), a North African bistro, and the Swedish-influenced Good World Bar and Grill (3 Orchard St.), opened in a former Chinese barbershop. Around the block, Bacaro (136 Division St.), a Venetian wine bar and restaurant opened at the end of 2007.

Project No. 8, a monochromatic "concept" boutique, featuring local and international designers, is the first upscale fashion to break ground in this up-and-coming stretch (138 Division St.)

REAL ESTATE