Fight over the Chinese Cultural Center rages on
It’s been more than a year since the Chinese-American community learned that a developer planned to turn the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center’s ornate exterior into a sleek, modern office building. The center was built in 1997 and does not qualify for historic preservation.
“Throwing gasoline on a fire, especially at the beginning, is no way to try to compromise and resolve.” Phil Gordon Former Phoenix mayor
It’s been more than a year since the Chinese-American community learned that a developer planned to turn the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center’s ornate exterior into an sleek, modern office building.
The center was built in 1997 and does not qualify for historic preservation. Many of the shops and restaurants have struggled to stay afloat and eventually vacated the premises. And many of the cultural events that once graced the center have since moved to other parts of the Valley.
But to many Chinese-Americans, the center still represents an important and unparalleled testament to their culture in a city where cultural displays are few and far between.
Upon hearing of the renovation plans last summer, the community quickly organized in hopes of preventing the destruction of the center’s tile roof and other unique cultural decor.
Since then, the community and the new owner, 668 North, have engaged in at least 10 lawsuits. They’ve swapped insults and accusations of illegal behavior.
But more than a year later, both sides are at a standstill.
The legal battles have frozen the new owner’s ability to make changes to the building’s roof and Chinese garden, which has pushed back the planned timeline for the project. Investment firm True North — the parent company of 668 North — plans to make the space its corporate headquarters.
The Chinese-American community group opposed to the redevelopment experienced a significant shake-up this summer when its already-controversial spokesman was arrested after an altercation with a Chinese American.
Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix fired him and is now regrouping to continue the fight on its own.
Although both sides say they want to reach a compromise, no one appears to agree on what a compromise should look like — and with each passing month, the likelihood of an amicable resolution seems increasingly unlikely.
The legal web surrounding the Chinese Cultural Center is difficult to follow.
There are at least 10 lawsuits at the county, state and federal levels related to the cultural center, its new owners and the Chinese-American community. People associated with the community filed the vast majority of the lawsuits, but they’ve had minimal success in the courtroom.
The legal issues at play range from property rights to religious freedom to freedom of speech — and most of the lawsuits are at an impasse until the Arizona Court of Appeals renders a decision in the overarching lawsuit.
That lawsuit involves the other owner of the Chinese Cultural Center. 668 North purchased about 95 percent of the center last year — but CJ Design & Construction Corp. still owned and operated Szechwan Palace on the ground floor.
The restaurant sued 668 North last year, arguing that removing the center’s iconic roof and other Chinese decor would hurt its business and violate its property rights.
In December, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge sided with 688 North and agreed to lift a temporary construction ban on the center.
In February, a three-member panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals continued the construction ban until the court makes a decision on the appeal, which could take a year.
668 North cannot alter the roof or Chinese garden unless the court lifts the ban.
Since then, 668 North has dissolved the contract that once controlled the cultural center so it could buy out the restaurant owner for $708,000. The restaurant owner is fighting that in court as well, with no success so far.
David Tedesco, the owner of True North, said the multitude of lawsuits filed by the community are attempts to prolong the legal process as long as possible to delay the redevelopment.
“It’s really obvious what they’re trying to do,” Tedesco said.
Jack Wilenchik, the attorney representing the community in several of the lawsuits, said the community was “forced” to take legal action because True North didn’t work with the community prior to announcing its plans to alter the center.
In July, the Chinese-American community group booted its spokesman, Tom Simon.
Simon, who is not Chinese, had been the public face of the Chinese-American community in the bitter fight against 668 North for nearly a year.
He showed up at the first protest the community organized last year. The community leadership had never heard of him, but he claimed to have media and political connections and proved himself by bringing Phoenix Councilman Michael Nowakowski to the protest.
The community was impressed by his ability to attract public figures to the cause. So they hired him.
He appeared in newspapers and on television as the spokesman for Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix. He became a fixture at Phoenix City Council meetings with his often brazen displays.
But while he’s claimed success, representatives of the developer and some Phoenix leaders say Simon’s over-the-top antics and aggressive personality have only hurt the Chinese-American community.
And the recent exposure of Simon’s criminal issues have done additional public damage.
The association leadership did not know when they hired Simon that he had a lengthy criminal history.
In the late ’90s and early 2000s, Simon was arrested numerous times and charged with burglary, fraud and grand theft. He spent years in prison for his infractions.
Simon said he did not initially tell the community about his previous convictions, but they were aware of them when they renewed his contract multiple times.
However, when Dr. Anthony Yeung, a prominent Valley surgeon, learned of Simon’s criminal past in May, he brought his concerns about Simon’s background and “aggressive and antagonizing tactics” to the Chinese leaders, Yeung said.
In response, Simon sent a blistering email about Yeung to the Chinese community, calling him an “old guy with loose, disrespectful lips, a faint acquaintance with the truth and a lot of cash.”
The kerfuffle with Yeung was the first schism in Simon’s relationship with the community.
Not long after, Simon was arrested in Scottsdale when a woman in the Chinese-American community went to police accusing Simon of sexual harassment and assault.
Simon was charged with unlawful imprisonment, unlawful intent via lewd electronic communication, unlawful distribution of images and disorderly conduct. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a plea deal.
Simon said he was in a relationship with the woman and the incident was “a fight between two people — an argument.”
However, the woman denied that she was in a relationship with Simon and said he threatened to ruin her career unless she continued to see him, according to police records.
Regardless, his arrest was the final straw for the community. Chinese United declined to renew Simon’s contract “for cause” in July. Simon resigned following the community’s decision, though he said he was not aware of the decision when he resigned.
He said he still represents two Chinese businesses that used to operate out of the Chinese Cultural Center.
The community trusted Simon to push their cause forward — but some Phoenix leaders say he did the opposite.
“I personally believe that the reason it’s (the Chinese Cultural Center dispute) not resolved was primarily because of him,” former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said.
Gordon assisted the community at the start of their fight against the developer last year. He left because of Simon’s antics, he said.
“I wouldn’t associate my name and the friends that were helping with that guy,” Gordon said. “He was not professional. He was dishonest in what he repeated to others. Throwing gasoline on a fire, especially at the beginning, is no way to try to compromise and resolve.”
Jason Rose, a spokesman for True North, said Simon’s involvement was “discrediting, absurd and bizarre,” and made it difficult for his client to believe the community was acting in good faith.
“It’s very difficult to take seriously a side of the discussions that employs someone who has done some unfortunate and colorful things, to put it politely, in the past and apparently did some insidious things potentially (to) the Chinese community that he purportedly represented,” Rose said.
Wilenchik, the attorney representing the Chinese community, called the attacks on Simon “a huge diversion” by True North.
“Tom Simon did devote a heck of a lot of time to this. I don’t think it was him that was the problem at all,” he said.
Simon reiterated that view in an interview with The Arizona Republic. He said his contributions to the community speak for themselves.
“I think it’s clear. If you go to 44th Street and Van Buren and you look up, you still see the Chinese Cultural Center,” he said. “Had we not taken them to court, there’s no way that the Chinese Cultural Center would still be there.”
To the community, Simon is part of the past. The group is looking forward.
In a statement, Chinese United said the “efforts to preserve the Chinese Cultural Center continue on multiple legal and political fronts and our energies have not and will not diminish.”
Sam Huang, a Chandler City Councilman, said the Chinese community in Arizona didn’t have a lot of experience in protesting and government issues prior to the cultural center spat.
“The Chinese people have learned a lot from this experience and it’s good for our community,” Huang said.
Yeung, the doctor who cautioned the community about Simon, said he’s met with Tedesco but is still “inclined to be supportive” of the community. He questioned the new owner’s motives.
Tedesco said he feels like his company has “tried unusually hard to find a compromise.”
He’s offered to maintain and restore the Chinese garden on the side of the building and open up an interpretive center in the ground floor of the building next to the garden. He’s offered to pitch in funds to build a new center and transport all of the roofing tiles and Chinese art to that location.
He said “almost anything is on the table” for a compromise, with the exception of keeping the building as is, because it will not work for his company’s needs.
He also said he’d be willing to sell the building to the community — something the community has said it is willing and able to do.
So far, Tedesco said, he hasn’t seen proof of that.
He said all of the offers have come from unnamed buyers who can’t prove that they have the funds to purchase the building.
Tedesco said if someone is willing to make a competitive offer in cash, and put that cash in a bank account where it can be verified, he would sell.
“I don’t know what this group wants and I’m not sure they know between themselves what they want,” Tedesco said.
Wilenchik said there have been serious offers from the community. He said a compromise, to his clients, would have to include maintaining the building as it is.
“Lord knows there’s plenty of office space in Phoenix. But there’s only one Chinese Cultural Center,” he said.