CSHBA

Chinatown’s benevolent associations are – and have always been – important stewards of the  neighborhood’s cultural and historical significance. CSHBA proposes a project to support Chinese  societies with the stewardship of their buildings, so they can focus on their cultural mission. 

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BACKGROUND 

Chinese societies provide important and  affordable spaces for culture, community and  commerce. While these volunteer-run  organizations achieve many successes with their  limited resources, it is also visible that they struggle  with the day-to-day operations and stewardship of  their assets, and risk losing crucial lease revenues,  especially from their storefront spaces. A different,  more forward-looking approach is needed.

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PILOT PROJECT

We propose a 2-year pilot project in which  Chinatown societies are supported in managing  their revenue-generating assets in a much more  sustainable, professional and collaborative way.  It will bring benefit to the Chinese societies  involved and their respective tenants, while  offering other societies the possibility to join and  improve their asset stewardship as well. This can  ultimately grow into a formal body or structure  that takes care of asset management. 

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WHY IS THIS INITIATIVE?

We pursue this project because: 

• We wish to break the current cycle of  piecemeal maintenance of Chinatown’s cultural  buildings, and move towards a long-term,  collaborative asset management approach 

• We want to bring substantial relief to  volunteer-run Chinese societies so they can  focus more on their cultural mission and vision,  and on delivering community participation 

• We hope to recruit and retain tenants who fit  well with the culture, fabric and values of  Chinese societies, and who are seeking a win win relationship with their landlords

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ASSETS IN FOCUS

We focus our pilot on Chinese societies with  one or more historic buildings, and develop a long-term strategy for four such assets. Our  thinking is to build on the existing relationships  of Team Dunefield with Chinatown benevolent  associations, and interest them for the pilot.  The decision on which societies will participate is made in the initial project stage.

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​PROJECT OUTCOMES

• Asset analysis: we make transparent how  the society buildings are doing today, and  identify the short and long-term  

improvements that would bring benefit to  both the societies and their tenants 

• Long-term vision: we host workshops with  the societies to help them develop a long term vision for each of their properties, and  capture the cultural and space-related  aspirations that they are committed to 

• Streamline maintenance: we identify the  top-5 common maintenance issues and  recommend a shared solution that addresses  these problems more efficiently; we apply  for grants to pursue these improvements 

• Access capital funding: we approach credit  unions, foundations and governments to  understand under what conditions they  would provide favorable capital funding to  make larger investments possible 

• Five-year plan: we make a growth plan to  sustain the new asset stewardship approach,  to include more buildings in the portfolio,  and to create a formal entity (e.g. land trust,  development corporation, etc.)

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