Photo by John Liu
The owner of Asian Plaza in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood is suing the city of Seattle—alleging that its homelessness policies and lax law enforcement destroyed his business and derailed a multimillion-dollar redevelopment deal.
Dennis L. Chinn—whose family has owned the property at 1032 S. Jackson St. for five generations—is seeking at least $30 million in damages,
According to a lawsuit filed in August, Chinn agreed in 2021 to sell the property to Mill Creek Residential Trust for $21 million. The deal collapsed two years later “at the 11th hour” when lenders balked at the area’s conditions.
Viet-Wah Supermarket, Asian Plaza’s anchor tenant, closed in 2022 “due to recurring theft,” Chinn said. He claims annual rent revenue dropped from $327,000 in 2015 to zero by 2022, as businesses fled and vacancies mounted.
“Little Saigon is a wasteland of drug use, homelessness, and squalor, and high personal risk. Why do other neighborhoods appear to be in much better shape, or largely unaffected by these issues?” Chinn, an attorney representing himself, wrote in the complaint.
He also blames the city for locating its low-barrier Navigation Center shelter in the area, calling it “a blatantly racist decision in violation of existing anti-discrimination laws.”
Chinn said the city’s inaction amounts to a taking of property without compensation and he’s asking the court to stop selective enforcement and create a fund to compensate other Little Saigon business owners.
The city has asked the court to dismiss the case.
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