MVT Celebrates Women’s History Month with Spotlight on Yeni Wong, President and CEO of Riverdale International, and sole Chair-member of Gallery Court LLC
Friday March 13, 2026
We continue our Women’s History Month celebrations this week by taking a wider lens and a step just outside of MVT CID’s official boundaries with a spotlight on the trailblazer Yeni Wong, President and CEO of Riverdale International, and sole Chair-member of Gallery Court LLC. Ms. Wong is a property manager and savvy businesswoman who has played a vital role in the preservation and revitalization of downtown DC’s Chinatown.
As the longtime owner and operator of Chinatown Garden located at 618 H Street NW Ms. Wong, has witnessed the growth and change of her neighborhood, including in 1997 when what was then called MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) opened to the public. Through it all, she has been an advocate for preserving the community — even negotiating with the teams “to try to ensure the arena’s economic benefits flowed to neighborhood residents and businesspeople”, according to a 2023 article by CBS, while also understanding that the business and crowds that the sports arena brought in could be mutually beneficial to the surrounding properties. In March, 2024 she spoke on the record with WTOP News stating that the potential move of Monumental Sports from Capital One Arena to Virginia was “a big blow” and that “the city should do everything to try to get them to stay.” Since the reversal of Monumental Sport’s decision to move out of Capital One Arena, Ms. Wong continues to serve on the Executive Committee of the DowntownDC BID’s Board of Directors and advocate for the revitalization of Chinatown.
Ms. Wong’s is guided by the challenge to “improve the places where we live and work”. In 2017, she and developer Andrew Agetstein purchased the historic Wah Luck House (800 6th Street NW) from Denver-based national real estate company Aimco (Apartment Investment and Management Company) for 55 million dollars. The 10-story building is integral to the story of Chinatown and houses 153-low-inclome units with senior residents making up approximately 75% of the population. As a former chairwoman of the DC Chapter of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) — which purchased the land rights below Wah Luck House in 1981 and has since leased the ground rights to property management companies to own and operate the building — Ms. Wong is dedicated to keeping the building affordable to residents for decades to come. In a video produced by Wah Luck House financer Fannie Mae, Ms. Wong said “I love this community. I want to make sure it’s going in the right direction”. Since taking ownership, Ms. Wong has overseen the installation of an independent Adult Day Care Center in the ground floor retail space of Wah Luck House that provides programs that assist with “wellness, socialization, communication needs, and medical treatments for health-related issues for its elderly residents”. The purchase also shepherd in needed renovations to the interior or the building.
So, the next time you walk through Chinatown to catch the metro or go to a game at Capitol One Arena, take a moment to appreciate the architecture and layered stories of generations of immigrants that have built a home within the dense city blocks of downtown DC, and consider the people like Yeni Wong who strive every day to preserve, champion, and build up her culture and community.
Additional Reading:
“After the arena came, the Asian population of Washington’s Chinatown shrank“, CBS March 23, 2023
“At Wah Luck House, Chinatown community takes care of its own” The Wash, December 7, 2021
“Residents of Wah Luck House Have Endured Difficult Living Conditions to Remain in Downtown D.C.” Washington City Paper, October 31, 2018
Left: Exterior shot of Wah Luck House, 800 6th Street NW
Right: MVT CID President & CEO Kenyattah Robinson with Yeni Wong
