FALLS CHURCH, VA — Falls Church City Council will consider final approval of a neighborhood development vision for the city’s East End with a recommendation to fund anti-displacement strategies for Eden Center businesses.
City staff have been working to develop and revise the East End Small Area Plan, a development and reinvestment vision to guide any future land use reviews and city policies. The East End refers to the area bordered by Wilson Boulevard, East Broad Street, and Hillwood Avenue centered around its biggest landmark: the Eden Center. It also includes other commercial areas like BJ’s Wholesale Club, Koons Ford and 24 Hour Fitness.
As the city shared the draft plan for public feedback, Vietnamese activists raised concerns about displacement of Vietnamese businesses and culture, as well as inadequate outreach by the city to the Vietnamese community on the proposal.
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Viet Place Collective, a group seeking to protect Vietnamese culture in the region, has been a key voice calling for the city to support ways to protect and strengthen the Vietnamese small businesses. The group’s advocacy led the city to revise its plan to include anti-displacement strategies as a key goal and support Little Saigon East branding.
The advocacy also resulted in the Planning Commission recommending on June 7 that City Council fully fund an anti-displacement toolkit in the plan. The Planning Commission also recommended city staff look into using community benefits agreements as a measure to protect businesses against displacement.
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Anti-displacement strategies in the proposed plan include looking for ways to support legacy businesses, providing technical assistance and other training to businesses, providing resources for businesses to apply for grants, making a list of registered community organizations, looking into creating assistance programs for building renovations, providing Vietnamese-speaking outreach services, seeking studies on history, culture and anti-displacement, having businesses join a chamber or create their own groups, using special exception criteria to promote cultural preservation when development proposals are reviewed, and construction disruption assistance for small businesses.
Viet Place Collective and other supporters praised the anti-displacement goal in the plan but wants to see more assurance in the plan that anti-displacement strategies will be funded.
“Please use stronger language and dedicate a dollar or percentage amount to fund these measures and make them a reality in the budgeting process,” said Amanda Luo of Viet Place Collective.
Representatives of the Eden Center property owner told the Planning Commission their goals mostly aligned with the Viet Place Collective’s goals, including preserving it for the long term, hosting cultural events and creating a mural.
Alan Frank, a senior vice president for Eden Center, said Eden Center has been around for 40 years, and there are no plans to change it. Frank said the Eden Center recently gained a 10,000-square-foot meeting space.
“We have tenants that have been there since the early 1980s, the same tenants. We have tenants whose children now run their businesses, the same business or maybe they’ve changed it from a jewelry store to a restaurant, but they have the same place,” said Frank. “We have tenants who are still there who have children that run other stores at Eden Center. It’s a unique thing. I don’t think you’ll see that anywhere else in the city.”
Graham Eddy, another senior vice president at the Eden Center who works with tenants, addressed concerns of displacement. Eddy said even though over 100 tenants couldn’t pay rent at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, none were evicted, and others left for other reasons. There’s ample demand for space, as the shopping center has a waiting list of prospective businesses.
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“I love our tenants. And there’s no way that I would let anything get in the way of our tenants not being there because it wouldn’t be the Eden Center without the small businesses,” said Eddy.
Even though the property owner has promised the Eden Center would remain, Viet Place Collectives remain concern about displacement due to market conditions and development outside the shopping center’s control.
The Eden Center property owner have also disagreed on branding for the East End neighborhood.
Quynh Nguyen of Viet Place Collective believe naming the area Little Saigon East would honor the Vietnamese community that made the neighborhood vibrant.
“The name Little Saigon East is an organic community, a suggestion for which we saw much support during our community outreach as well as at the pop-ups at Eden Center,” said Nguyen. “And we believe that little Saigon East also acknowledges our community’s history of displacement…and Falls Church’s commitment to equity and cultural preservation.”
“The cultural celebration district is good, but acknowledging the area as Little Saigon East is better because it is a culture culturally significant name and more promotable in the future as well,” said Luo. “Please consider this rebranding as what the larger community wants and has voiced.”
Eddy said Little Saigon East sounds like a good idea but that it would hurt the Eden Center’s longtime efforts to promote its unique name.
“We’ve worked for 40 years to have that Eden Center brand to be known worldwide, and we’re really proud of that, and we really appreciate the city putting the markers up showing that,” said Eddy. “We regulate tour buses from all around the world, literally international tourists, buses and buses every week coming to Eden Center, and there’s only one Eden Center.”
In addition to anti-displacement strategies funding and Little Saigon East branding, Viet Place Collective and other Eden Center supporters have called for increased free parking to serve Eden Center visitors.
The East End Small Area Plan will get a public hearing and consideration by City Council Monday. City Council’s meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
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