With two of the area’s larger vacancies now filled, things could be looking up for Ottawa’s Chinatown neighbourhood.
Yukang Li, executive director of the Chinatown BIA, told OBJ Wednesday that the return of the Yangtze Restaurant and Dining Lounge at 700 Somerset St. W. under new management is “big news for the community.”
“We welcome any new business investing in Chinatown with open arms. Every business that chooses Chinatown is a vote of confidence for the neighbourhood,” he said.
Li said the space is under renovation and will likely open in September or October. Aside from some new decor, he said it will largely be the Yangtze that Ottawans knew and loved for decades.
“This is good news for the loyal patrons of the Yangtze Restaurant. The menu will largely be the same with dim sum. But they are now calling it modern Chinese cuisine, so there will be some modern takes. They are adding northern Chinese flavours and Sichuan,” Li said.
Having served the Ottawa region since the early 1980s, the Yangtze closed in March 2024 when the former owners listed the property for sale at $3.28 million. Across the street, the Oriental Chu Shing restaurant at 691 Somerset St. W., another popular dim sum spot, closed in 2022, leaving two big gaps in the area.
Since then, Li said the BIA has worked to bring in new tenants. While there has been interest, he said it’s been difficult to find someone for the 10,000-square-foot, two-level Yangtze building.
Things started to look up earlier this year when it was announced that BiOM Health Club, a new social health and wellness centre, would open in the former Oriental Chu Shing location across the street from the Yangtze. According to the health club’s website and social channels, the facility will feature North America’s largest sauna, ice baths, a lounge and a preventative clinic.
“This reflects the resilience of our business owners. Chinatown has had some difficult years in the past and we hope that the opening of these two major businesses will boost the morale in the business community and the neighbourhood as a whole,” Li said.
“These two properties are among the biggest venues in Chinatown and having them unoccupied for the past two to four years is really not what we want in the community. We need these venues back in business so that communities have a place to go and it adds to the liveliness of the neighbourhood.”
Though the area’s two anchor locations will be filled, Li said it doesn’t necessarily mean that Chinatown is out of the woods.
“I think it’s a little bit early to say that (these openings) are a trend (in the right direction). I would describe it as an encouraging sign rather than evidence that all of our challenges have been solved. After all, the safety situation on the street is still quite concerning and challenging for businesses and residents nearby,” Li explained.
In the past few years, the area has struggled with crime, theft, drug use and vandalism.
Having the popular Yangtze restaurant re-opened will increase foot traffic to the area, Li said, which will have a spillover effect on nearby businesses.
Speaking to OBJ earlier this year, Li said the area had suffered from a lack of foot traffic since the Yangtze closed in 2024.
“Business is generally slow nowadays,” Li said in April. “Some business is coming back due to office policy, especially during lunch hours, but Chinatown is not exactly where federal offices concentrate. So we’re not feeling a lot of that.”
Li said in April that the BIA has been working on other ways to attract visitors to the area, including beautification efforts, marketing and community events.
With files from Mia Jensen.
