When American Pacific International Capital (APIC) decided to develop two underutilized hotel parking lots in San Francisco into mixed-use, multi-family products, it faced with a set of variables that it had not experienced before.

The 119 Seventh Street and 25 Mason housing projects are located in densely populated urban center, adjacent to single-room occupancy residential hotels with special needs residents. It takes thoughtful approach to develop project plans that tend to the needs of the neighborhood while fulfilling the fiduciary obligations to the company’s shareholders.

Under the leadership of the APIC management, its development department made community engagement its top priority. It regularly consulted with community leaders, organizations and neighboring residents through town hall meetings, group discussions and individual consultations, incorporated community input into project design and development, and actively participated in local social and economic development programs.

Whenever there was conflict between the project plans and community needs, APIC worked in partnership with the community to find win-win solutions. The company completely redesigned one of the projects to provide neighboring residents more space for light and air, even though it extended the entitlement process for additional six months. This voluntary start-over demonstrated APIC’s commitment to being a good neighbor and responsible developer.

APIC has made contributions to numerous charitable organizations totaling one million dollars including the San Francisco Chinese Hospital that serves primarily low-income Chinese immigrants, and 826 Valencia that helps under-resourced students ages 6-18 with their reading and writing skills.

Gordon Tang (Yigang Tang), the chairman of APIC, personally donated $2 million U.S. dollars to the International Olympic Museum and $300 million Chinese renminbi to the Shantou Olympic Sports Academy, the first educational institution affiliated with the International Olympic Academy in China.

Both housing projects received community support and unanimous approval from the San Francisco Planning Commission. Commissioner Dennis Richards made a point to laud APIC’s community outreach efforts as “exemplary.”

“Harmony is one of the central concepts of Chinese philosophy,” said Victoria Yu, APIC’s development director, “It’s also one of Gordon’s guiding principles. We strive to contribute to the building of a harmonious community.”

American Pacific International Capital, Inc. (APIC) is a California-based real estate company founded in 2002. APIC is a diversified international investment holding company with businesses throughout the U.S. and China.