Vietnamese Refugee Becomes Developer

Editor’s Note: Interestingly, the subject of this article apparently spells his last name “Wynn” rather than what has become the convention “Nguyen,” which is in fact pronounced “win.”

THEMEDSHOPPING CENTER RISING IN FREMONT

Thecountry’s first internationally themed shopping mall, reminiscent of a high-endDisney Epcot village, where visitors dine in faux-France and snap up saris fromIndia, is expected to find a home in Fremont next year.

Themall is the brainchild of developer John Wynn, 51, of San Jose, who fledVietnam to build a better life. Now he’s building his most ambitious dream as atribute to the country he says allowed him to prosper beyond his expectations.

Inthis open-air mall just off Interstate 880, Wynn hopes not only to make aprofit, but also to build a community gathering place reflecting the diversityof the Bay Area and Fremont, where its 210,000 residents hail from 155 countriesand speak 137 languages.

“Iwas a `poor boy,’ a `bad luck’ boy,” said a cheerful Wynn, who changed hissurname from Nguyen to reflect his proud assimilation despite a thick accentand intense memories of the past. “And with a lot of hard work I fulfilled mydream.”

Heand his wife, Marie Le, raised four boys, built a flourishing commercial realestate business, and now, he said, his “dream got bigger.”

“Thiscountry helped me,” he said. “It takes in anybody. I want to send a messageto the world that we are all one.”

Andwhere better to showcase this harmony, Wynn figures, than at the quintessentialAmerican shopping experience: a mall? In Wynn’s vision, the various regions ofthe globe will sit happily next to each other in “villages” architecturallydesigned to represent India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and countries inEurope, Latin America and the United States. The shops are expected to sellgoods reflecting those countries. Wynn hopes the 460,000-square-foot mall at6000 Stevenson Blvd., called the Globe, will be finished at the end of 2007.

Currently,the “Saigon Village” section of the mall is under construction, in a spacenow inhabited by a hodgepodge of drab-looking furniture stores, which musteventually move out so the buildings can be torn down.

Wynn’steam bristles at a comparison to Disney’s Epcot theme park in Florida, whichfeatures pavilions that look and feel like miniature countries. As Fred Kim,one of Wynn’s staff members, puts it, the Globe won’t be as “cheesy” asDisney.

Lastweek, the Fremont City Council unanimously approved a crucial step in Wynn’splans, essentially giving him the go-ahead for his project. They voted torezone the property from industrial use to high-volume retail.

Now,the 47-acre plot that Wynn bought for $68 million last summer is ready for koiponds, metal latticework and a Spanish fountain.

Inthe heart of the mall, Wynn envisions visitors doing tai chi, playing chess andChinese checkers, sniffing cherry blossoms, and watching fashion shows with thelatest styles from France and Italy, or Bollywood dancing on water fountainsthat convert into community stages.

Inspiredby marketplaces in Singapore, London and New York, Wynn plans to spend about$130 million more on the project — all private money from his Milpitas firm,Imperial Investment & Development. He wants to work quickly and moreindependently than if he asked Fremont’s redevelopment agency for help.

Wynn’sbusiness model is to buy blighted shopping centers and fix them up. Wynn’sfamily and partners own the Vietnamese-oriented Grand Century Shopping Mall andVietnam Town, both in San Jose; Milpitas Plaza; Vallco Fashion Park inCupertino; and Santa Clara Square.

Inpaving the way for the new mall, council members lamented that Fremontconsumers spend $900 million annually in retail dollars — but in neighboringcommunities.

“Thiscould be magic,” said Fremont Councilwoman Anu Natarajan, an architect born inIndia, who earlier suggested to Wynn’s staff that they add modern touches tothe Little India section of the mall.

ButNatarajan warned that the mall must have a stable team of tenants, be centrallymanaged and provide adequate parking. Also, Natarajan said, the execution ofthe plan must be sophisticated: “There’s a thin line between a great conceptand a Disneyfied mockery of cultures.”

Wynnremained unwaveringly upbeat. Choosing not to speak publicly with hisstaccato-sounding English, Wynn hired a former Fremont planning director totell the council that the Globe has letters of intent from retailers — such asJackie’s Kitchen, owned by Jackie Chan, and Miss Saigon fashions — to fillslightly more than half the mall space. Wynn also said he’s talking to Paolo’sItalian restaurant, an Austrian winery and a German brew pub.

Noone, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers in New York,has created an entire globe in one shopping mall.

“Thisgentleman is thinking what `outside the box’ could be. He’s pushing it to thenext level,” said ICSC spokeswoman Patrice Duker. “But will it work? We’lljust have to wait and see. It’s ultimately the consumer who decides.”

Twobig concerns for the Globe, Duker noted, are the kind of anchor tenants it canattract and whether independent shops can afford the mall rents. Even casualobservers wonder whether shoppers from around the bay will trek to Fremont, afamily-friendly but architecturally bland city.

Ifthe Globe’s shoppers are counting on DeAnn Martin, 65, of Fremont, then thereare challenges ahead.

“I’llstick with The Hub or NewPark Mall,” Martin said recently while loading hercar trunk full of Target bags, referring to two nearby traditional malls. “I’mjust basic.”

Butif the mall’s success hinges on shoppers such as Brenda LaCosse, then Wynn hasa good chance of realizing his dream. LaCosse said she would “definitely” tryit out because she’s “sick of driving to Palo Alto for nice restaurants.”

Wynnadmits he’s a man with big dreams. His father died when he was 8, and he’sworked ever since: delivering newspapers, tutoring rich kids, doing menialjobs. Wynn came to the United States in 1975, after a lieutenant scooped himaboard a helicopter leaving Vietnam outside the American Embassy. Wynn’s firststop was Guam, then Arkansas, and finally California. He signed up for welfare.But 15 days later, he landed a job at a hospital moving dead bodies.

About30 years ago, he took a real estate seminar as a way to earn extra income, andbegan attending night school at San Jose’s Phoenix University, earning a degreein business administration. He’s been a developer since 1985.

Today,Wynn is acutely aware of his good fortune. He’s proud that his second-oldest,Joseph Nguyen, 27, is his director of sales and acquisitions.

“I’m no more `bad luck’ boy,” Wynn said.“Dreams like mine only happen in America.”

Source: San Jose Mercury News
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