Kwong and Pacific East Medical Center Executive Director Clifford Wong are working to add an outpatient surgical center to the medical clinic. Wong became interested in adding the surgical center after watching his doctors send patients to places like Emeryville for surgery. This takes them out of their comfort zone, he said. Wong is waiting to get approval to add the center. It wouldn't open until at least the middle of 2002.
Experts say Pacific East's unique tenant mix makes sense for an ethnic mall.
He won't give details. Though its success as a cultural hub is evident, it's difficult to gauge the mall's financial health. The number of visitors it sees per week has jumped from 15,000 to 20,000 when it opened to about 70,000 now. If the trend in Asian-American spending is any indication, Pacific East has a bright future ahead of it. That's a bigger increase than any other ethnic group and exceeds the buying power gain of the nation as a whole.