Space invader?

From Washington Avenue, Wing Phat Plaza looks like a thriving shopping center that adds cultural flavor to the area.

From 11th Street, it looks like a living nightmare.

A large chunk of the small plaza — which is home to a Vietnamese restaurant, a supermarket and more than a dozen stores — has been turned into a construction site that has disrupted traffic and incensed neighbors, business owners and civic leaders.

Mot Phat, who is part-owner of the plaza, began work in the spring on a new building that will house eight retail stores and eight offices while eliminating at least 25 of 100 spaces in the parking lot.

Phat did not announce his plan to neighbors or the other business owners in the shopping center. The plaza’s zoning code allowed the additions and does not dictate parking requirements for property owners.

It might be legal, but it’s still not right, argue civic-group members from the neighborhood.

"It’s a great overuse of the property that’s there," said Susan Montella, president of the Passyunk Square Civic Association.

The organization has opposed Phat’s development plans from the beginning and lobbied city officials to step in and stop work at the site.

"Mot’s taken an already-congested area and made it worse. He’s turned that corner into a hazardous area and given people another reason to leave this city," Montella contended.

Phat, who reportedly has homes in New York and Philadelphia, could not be reached for comment through his attorney, Dennis George.

Construction on the new building begins roughly in the middle of the shopping center and extends almost to the curb line on 11th Street, where patrons must navigate a narrow entranceway that Montella believes could cause a serious accident.

And with only 30 or so parking spaces available during construction, many patrons are forced to look for spots on the street, which in turn affects parking for residents.

The growing discontent with the project led to community meetings with First District Councilman Frank DiCicco earlier this year. Some drew only 40 residents, some drew more than 100.

But the bottom line was — and still is — that the city has no power to stop the development. Authorities halted construction for a month, but only until Phat obtained the proper building permits.

DiCicco said he has taken whatever measures he could to address the Passyunk Square group’s concerns.

For starters, the city hired an attorney to work out an agreement with Phat to ensure that proper signs and separate entrance points would be established.

Also, Phat and City Council discussed the possibility of setting up off-site parking, DiCicco said.

"They agreed to set up ingress and egress sections to help with the traffic flow, and there also won’t be any liquor establishments there," he said. "Other than that, it’s a sloppy center, but it falls within code."

A South Philly resident himself, DiCicco said he was frustrated to discover that some neighbors were protesting the plaza development simply because of their own parking concerns.

"For years, this was a blighted area that no one wanted to develop. Now, because of the businesses in that plaza, it’s vibrant and diverse," he said. "I understand how people feel about their parking, but this is South Philly, and that’s a problem you can’t escape down here. This development isn’t hurting anyone’s property values, and I think progress and new developments are better than blight."

Still, Passyunk Square Civic Association members were concerned enough to send a letter to Mayor Street and other City Council members, begging them to stop Phat.

"It’s a little depressing that this guy can just come in and do what he wants without caring one iota about the rest of us," complained Phyllis Fox, who sits on PSCA’s zoning board. "I mean, how can we let that happen?"

Fox, who lives on the 1100 block of South 11th Street, has been pivotal in articulating the concerns of residents and Vietnamese businesspeople, who, she said, also are getting a raw deal from Phat.

"Culturally, they’re not the type of people who make waves. None of the neighbors have a problem with them because they’re all kind and hard-working," she said. "The thing is, they’re being taken advantage of, too."

At one time, Phat was partners with Jeffrey Hyde, who owns the center’s supermarket, Hung Vuong.

Nearly two years ago, the two men agreed to literally split the plaza in half, with Phat inheriting the side of the lot that contained the most parking spaces.

As part of their deal, Hyde said, he and all of the other merchants in the plaza agreed to pay Phat $3,000 a month for the use of parking spaces.

Although his development project has wiped out nearly a third of the parking spaces, Phat is still collecting payments from the businesses every month, Hyde said.

"Everyone here is unhappy," the merchant added. "He basically went up to each of the businesses and told them that he has a lot of money, and no one can stop him [from building]. It’s not fair."

Most Wing Phat merchants declined to comment, but there were mixed reactions among those who did discuss the development.

"Of course we’re upset about this," said Keit Tran, who runs Lucky Jewelry Inc. "Customers come in here all the time and complain about the building. It was hard enough to park out there before. Now, it’s almost impossible."

Tran worries that patrons will stop frequenting Wing Phat Plaza if parking becomes too much of a hassle.

"I hope it doesn’t hurt business, but a lot of people think it will," he said. "None of us knows what to do or how to stop [Phat]. Not enough people are speaking out."

Jenny Tiu, who works at Cellphone Central, said she’s used to the parking problems at Wing Phat Plaza and doesn’t mind the construction.

"It’s not that busy in here, so it doesn’t really affect me that much," she said.

Tiu said she’s had dealings with Phat and didn’t find him to be an agitator.

"He’s OK. He never gave me any trouble. If he wants to build over there, I guess he can."

Employees at Rio Bravo Restaurant voiced similar sentiments.

"We never had any parking [to begin with]," said a chef who only wanted to be identified by his first name, Efven. "I don’t think we have any problems with the building. We just need more spots."

Though no firm opening date has been set, the daily presence of construction workers is likely to stoke the controversy.

"On top of being an ill-conceived plan from the start, this is an insult to the city, to the neighborhood and to the businesses," Fox said. "It’s sad that we have to look forward to waking up every morning and seeing this great wall going up."