Planned Community : A Chinatown Emerges in Houston’s Suburbs

Calvin Leung, a Southern California real estate developer and banker, is introducing the Southwest to the Far East on the outskirts of Houston.

Leung, who immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong in 1977, is building Tang City, a commercial and residential development that he said will be the nation’s largest master-planned Chinatown. The first phase of the $300-million project is scheduled for completion this week.

Leung’s hopes for Tang City include shedding the image of Chinatowns as mysterious but run-down and overcrowded ghettos in less-than-desirable neighborhoods.

“Second- or third-generation Chinese are not proud of where they are living. We felt we could do a better job by planning a community from scratch,” the 48-year-old Leung said.

In the Wrong Place

“If you’ve visited Chinatowns in different cities, one of the characteristics you notice is that they are located in the wrong place, near or close to the red-light districts.”

Not Tang City.

The 200-acre development--named for the dynasty that ruled China between 618 and 906, a reign noted for its prosperity, artistic achievements and territorial expansion--is located in suburban Houston’s Missouri City, which boasts of the $57,000 average annual income of its 34,600 residents, the nearby home of the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. and a host of country clubs.

Leung, a founding director of the New City Bank, in Orange County, and president of Mandarin Investment Corp. in Huntington Beach, said he decided to bring a Chinatown to suburban Missouri City because of its proximity to Houston’s 200,000 Asian residents, including 80,000 of Chinese descent.

“We’re probably as close to the center of the Oriental population as any other place in Houston,” agreed David Harner, Missouri City’s city manager.

Better Business Climate

Harner said commercial real estate development has slowed in the Houston suburbs since oil prices began falling. “You don’t see much of your conventional five-and-dime stores happening now.”

Leung said the lure of less expensive land surrounding Houston added to the appeal of Missouri City as the home for his vision.

“We couldn’t do what we want to do with the land prices in California,” he said. “The business climate (in Texas) is so much more pleasant than in other metropolitan areas. Texas is a pro-business state.”

But business, namely the oil business, has not been pro-Texas in recent months. Declining oil prices have depressed the Houston economy, slowing construction and economic growth.

Leung, though, is confident that his development will not be caught in the downward economic slide.

“Houston has had a lot of bad publicity but it actually is not near as bad as the public perceives it to be,” Leung said. “Certainly we hear about high vacancies in shopping centers and offices, but it’s nowhere near as bad as other areas, like Dallas.”

Soft Housing Market

Still, Leung said, he has scaled back Tang City’s residential areas because of Houston’s soft housing market. “We’re going to do some but we’re not going to overdo it.” The project is expected to include 58 town houses.

Despite the soft real estate market, Leung said, the Tang City Mall, a 10-acre shopping center with restaurants and shops featuring furnishings and food of the Orient, is 95% leased.

“We think it will not only attract the local Chinese but also the Houstonians,” Leung said. “We’d like to have shops for the benefit of the Orientals and we’d also like to do business with the local Americans. The whole Asian population in this country is limited. For us to have a community for the exclusive use of our people would not be very successful.”