40 years ago the Plaza Seven Shopping Center became Eden Center. The Eden Center has been voted “best shopping center” by Washington city paper 2 years in a row. The Center is filled with Vietnamese shops and restaurants that have all been there for years, and make the center what it is today.
Falls Church is planning a Small Area Plan. The plan will take place in the East End which has many businesses such as the Eden Center, Koons Ford, BJs Wholesale Club, 24-hour fitness, and many other smaller businesses. The plan has a focus on the potential redevelopment of the land use, zoning, and any other infrastructure improvements. This means that there’s a possibility the plan may not occur at all. Since the plan includes redeveloping the zoning in the east end, if the city does redevelop the zoning in Eden Center specifically then the owner of the property will be able to refrain from any redevelopment.
Predominantly Vietnamese owned businesses in the Eden center would be the ones largely affected by the redevelopment if it were to take place. Hoinam Nguyen from the Viet Place Collective explained the fears they have with the SAP plan, “development in this area could lead to business closures and displacement, which could lead to loss of a very important Vietnamese de-facto cultural center for the community.”
The Eden center means so much to members of the Vietnamese community. Senior Richard Do explains the importance of the center to him. “I’ve grown up going to the Eden Center all of my life with my family to purchase foods and even started working there at a boba shop called TeaDM! The Eden Center has an atmosphere that makes me feel like I’m at home.” The Center means so much to customers and the business owners.
Even though its possible the plan may never occur, the VPC had strongly advocated that an anti-displacement program be included into the Small Area Plan. Nguyen had stated that “we are pleased that anti-displacement programming to protect Vietnamese small businesses is now a core goal of the Small Area Plan.” The VPC had accomplished many parts of their goals. Now if the plan does take place then the businesses in the Eden Center are protected. Ngueyn stated, “we applaud the City’s proposal to create a ‘Little Saigon East’ Cultural District that would not only celebrate the community, but also support the continued growth of the #1 destination in the City.”